A Kind Thief and a Cop with a Secret
by Shadowzamy
Summary: In a city where crime is uncommon, the police receive a huge shock when a well known historical object is stolen. Now the cops are caught in a game of cat-and-mouse with a fairly childish thief. Will they catch this kind thief? Or will something happen to him before they get the chance? And what's with all of the strange connections between the criminals? Read and find out. HaoxYoh
1. We will call him Ghost

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

-phone conversations-

"normal speech"

"_thoughts_"

Writing

HaoxYoh

xXx

Hao looked around the police department with a bored expression, nothing really changed in this place. Head Detective Lyserg was sorting out papers, Police chief Ren was interrogating a witness called Horohoro, who obviously had a crush on him. Anna, the secretary, was nagging Joco about coming to the police station to hang out and Ryu, a normal police officer was combing his hair. Lastly, Tamao, the mailman/woman, should be here to deliver the mail at ten a.m, as usual. Hao sighed, nothing ever changed. Last year he had decided to become a cop working under police Head Detective Lyserg, it was somewhat annoying that Lyserg was younger than him though. Hao was sixteen while Lyserg was fifteen, according to the rumors, Lyserg got the job so early because it was requested in his fathers will. Lyserg's parents had died in a tragic fire when he was only eight, so most people took pity on him. Hao sighed as he watched the clock, was nothing interesting ever going to happen? The clock was just about to hit ten a.m when Tamao burst through the doors with a serious expression on her face, Tamao acting serious for once? This can't be good.

"Detective Lyserg, Head Detective Lyserg!" Tamao exclaimed as she ran through the front door.

"Calm down, what is it Tamao?" Lyserg asked calmly.

"The, um... Well, er... The ancient sword, Harusame, has been stolen!" Tamao declared.

"What?!" Everyone in the police station exclaimed.

Hao stared at Tamao in shock, despite the size of the city, there weren't that many crimes. Even if there was a crime committed, it was very rarely a big one, much less one of this magnitude. There were only five criminals who were known to commit high crimes, but luckily for everyone in the police department, all of them were gone in one way or another. (Lady) Jeanne was a scam artist and died of a fatal illness a year ago. (Metallic Soldier) Marco was a serial killer with a twisted sense of justice who killed anyone who he saw defy his principals, he was killed by another criminal nine years ago. (Doctor) Faust was a mad scientist who did *Censored* research on his victims, he was caught and placed in a mental hospital two years ago. There was one thief who died ten years ago but because of the way that she died, no one ever spoke of her. The last one was called 'Reaper', Reaper was a mass murderer, he was never caught and he disappeared without a trace six months ago. At least this new criminal didn't appear to be a murderer, but it was still shocking that Harusame was stolen. Harusame was an ancient sword that was placed in the 'Seishin Museum' and guarded by the best security guard in the city, Amidamaru. Everyone was in to much of a panic by the news of this new criminal to notice that Hao was smirking. '_Omoshiroi, it looks like things are finally starting to get exiting around here. I wonder if I'll be the cop who catches this new criminal._' Hao thought, before going back to his usual expression.

"Was there no warning of this at all?" Lyserg asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Um, well Head Detective, actually there was something..." Ryu answered hesitantly.

"What?" Lyserg said, quickly turning around to face Ryu.

"Well, we get a lot of fake letters so I didn't think much of it at the time, but here it is." Ryu said, putting the letter on the table so that every one could read.

-Funga fufu, Hi everyone, I thought I should tell you that I am going to steal Harusume tonight at 8am. Thanks for listening, see you soon~

"Funga fufu?" Hao said questioningly while looking down at the letter.

"Normally I would be furious that you didn't take the letter seriously, but I can see why you thought it was just another prank." Lyserg said reluctantly.

"Who is going to talk to the reporters?" Anna asked while pointing to the news reporters who were waiting outside.

Lyserg sighed and walked outside to talk to the reporters, they showered him with questions the moment he came into view. It didn't take long for Lyserg to calm the crowd, once everyone had quieted down Lyserg began to speak.

"I know that you all want explanations on why the police didn't try to stop the crime and I an here to tell you. I regret to inform all of you that when the police saw the warning letter, we mistook it for a joke. We promise will not make the same mistake twice." Lyserg informed.

"What are you going to call this new thief?" One of the reporters asked.

"I do not know yet, we will decide on what to call him after we have a better idea of his personality." Lyserg replied.

Luckily the reporters seemed content for the time being and decided to leave. When Lyserg came back inside the police station he told everyone to keep watch for another notice and to get back to their usual routines. Hao found the rest of the day rather boring, other than the incident this mourning, nothing really interesting happened. Once Hao got back home he went straight upstairs to his room, he laid awake in bed wondering what the mystery criminal was like. Judging by the notice, who ever it was, was somewhat childish. After two hours Hao eventually fell asleep wondering when the mystery thief would strike again.

The next day, everything seemed as though it was back to normal again, everyone was doing their usual jobs without complaint. Tamao delivered the mail at the usual time and they had a few kids and teens deliver fan mail which wasn't anything knew. What _was_ knew, was Lyserg's reaction when he opened one of the 'fan letters'. Lyserg's eyes grew wide and he instantly dropped the letter. Everyone came over to see what was wrong, they all instantly knew when they read the first two letters.

-Funga fufu, You thought it was a joke? Heh heh, well it was kind of funny, but that wasn't just a joke and this isn't ether. I am going to steal the 'Cursed Bear Claw Necklace' tonight at 3am... I said night, but now that I think about it, wouldn't it actually be morning? Oh well, Thanks for reading this time, see you soon~

"Who is going and when are we leaving Head Detective Lyserg?" Hao asked, once he finished reading the note.

"Get ready to go, Ren, Ryu, Anna, Hao, and twenty other police officers, we are leaving in an hour so make sure that you are ready." Lyserg said as he went over to his desk and got his gun.

Hao, Ren and Anna were all ready to go in ten minutes, it took the remaining hour for the other officers to be fully prepared. As soon as everyone was ready to go, they all headed to the museum where the 'Cursed Bear claw Necklace' was being held. Once they arrived Head Detective Lyserg began setting the trap for the criminal, he moved the necklace to another room which was guarded by Ren, Lyserg and Anna. Hao was standing guard over the room where the necklace used to be along with five other police officers so that it wouldn't seem suspicious. Ryu and the rest of the police officers were spread out evenly among the floors of the building. Lyserg looked at his watch, it read 2:58, the mysterious thief would be arriving shortly. Twenty minutes had passed without so much as a single disturbance and Lyserg decided to call Hao and Ryu over for a status update. When the two of them came, they both informed him that nothing was abnormal. Lyserg was beginning to become suspicious a bout the lack of disturbance when suddenly, his phone rang, everyone looked at eachother in confusion after seeing that the phone number was blocked. Lyserg switched the phone to speaker so that everyone could hear, and then he answered the strange phone call.

-Funga fufu, Hello~-

"Are you the mysterious thief?" Lyserg asked calmly.

-You guessed it, and on the first try, you really are a great detective~-

"I'm not sure if I should feel flattered or offended by being praised by a thief." Lyserg said with an amused tone.

-Ha ha ha, I'm not really sure of the answer to that myself.-

"So was you're warning actually a joke after all? It's passed the required time and yet there is still no sign of you" Lyserg challenged.

-Funga fufu, I decided not to make an entrance today~-

"What?" Lyserg asked in surprise.

-Let me ask you this, how sure are you that the necklace is under the fake one in the room behind you?- *Click*

Lyserg looked down at the phone before looking at everyone in front of him. No one needed to say a word, because they were all thinking the same thing. The next moment they all burst through the door and looked around, the fake necklace was still sitting exactly where it was before. Lyserg slowly removed the fake and opened the hidden door underneath it. As the thief had implied, it was gone, and in it's place was small note which read: Funga fufu, everything will work out somehow, so maybe next time, detective.

Lyserg stared at the note in shock, how did the thief even get in the room? The windows had steel bars covering them and they had been watching from out side the entire time, no one ever entered the room. Lyserg looked around the room once more and quickly found the thief's method of entrance, the air vents. This was a pretty old building, so the air vents were big enough that someone might just be able to slip through. But it was still odd that they didn't here a single sound from within the room while they were standing guard on the other side of the door. Lyserg sighed before going outside to speak with to the reporters once more. Just like last time, the reporters flooded him with questions on sight. Lyserg reluctantly announced the the necklace had been stolen and as expected, everyone went quiet after that.

"I know what we are going to call the thief now, he will be known as 'Ghost'." Lyserg announced.

XxX

Me: Finally I finished the first chapter. Shortly after writing The Shaman Criminal, I suddenly had the urge to write this story. Please review:)


	2. Rumors of the Kokoro bridge

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

"normal speech"

'_thoughts_'

Writing

XxX

It was cold and icy the next day and everyone in the police department was fairly depressed. It was understandable. They were all upset that they had let Ghost escape without so much as a scratch. Head Detective Lyserg was the one that was the most upset, in a way, he kind of felt like he had failed the expectations of his late father. Hao was sitting at his desk and mulling things over. '_How did he come in and out of the room without making a sound?_' He thought curiously. Hao continued to think of multiple possibilities of how he could have gotten in and out, when suddenly he realized it. When everyone came in the room, they were in so much of a panic about the necklace that they weren't keeping an eye out for the thief. Hao quickly stood up, which startled everyone who was sulking, and turned to face Lyserg.

"I think I know how he got in an out without making a sound." Hao announced.

"What is your theory?" Lyserg asked, snapping out of his slight depression.

"Well, it's easy to get in the room through the air vents without being herd, but it's near impossible to leave the same way, much less to do it silently. When all of us went in, we were in a panic from the phone call and we were so worried that the necklace had been stolen that we didn't thoroughly check the room to see if we were the only ones there. I think that Ghost was waiting on the other side of the door so that the moment we went in, he could leave quietly." Hao explained simply.

"Then we must not underestimate him twice." Lyserg declared.

Soon everyone went back to their usual routines. It was 10am when Tamao came to deliver the mail, Hao didn't know why, but the moment Tamao entered he knew something was going to happen.

"Excuse me, there is a letter here addressed to the entire police station." Tamao announced as she placed the letter on Lyserg's desk.

Everyone surrounded the desk as Lyserg opened the letter. Funga fufu, Hello again. I'm happy that you all gave me a nickname, Ghost, right? I like it~ Oh, I almost forgot, I am going to steal 'Earth's Soul' today at 2pm. Thanks for listening, see you soon.

"What are we going to do this time Head Detective Lyserg?" Hao asked curiously.

"This time everyone who wants to go, can. The set time is only in an hour so we are leaving in ten minutes, get ready." Lyserg ordered as he went to go get ready.

Hao got his handcuffs and his detective badge, then he walked over to the others who were all ready to go. It took twenty minutes to get there, Hao's favorite part of the drive was when they drove over the huge 'Kokoro bridge' which was a mile away from the Oni Tower. The Oni Tower was an ancient building, and it was also where the Earth's Soul was held. The moment they arrived Lyserg went straight to setting another trap, this time he made it so that fifteen officers were guarding the inside of the building and everyone else was in the room with the stone. The Earth's Soul was a precious stone which belonged to the ancient Patch tribe, they simply could not allow it to be stolen. The clock struck two-o-clock, signaling the time of the theft. Everyone was wandering around the room, keeping an eye out for the thief.

"Hey, Head Detective, do you think that he will be caught before he reaches this room?" Police Chief Ren asked.

"I have do doubt that he wont, he said that he didn't want to make an entrance last time, so I'm guessing that we are going to actually see him this time." Lyserg answered.

"You think that he would actually be idiotic enough to actually show us his face?" Anna asked in disbelief.

"Funga fufu. It's not idiotic, it's polite." Ghost replied simply.

Everyone quickly turned around to face the thief, but they were all shocked when they actually saw his face. The thief looked almost exactly like Hao. The only differences were that, one, Hao had long silky hair went went a little below his hips, while Ghost had short choppy hair was a little above his shoulders. Two, Hao had his ears pierced while Ghost didn't have any piercings at all. Three, Hao was wearing a pair of navy blue jeans and a white T-shirt, while Ghost wore a pair of greenish brown camo pants and a dark green tank top. Hao was one who snapped out of the shock the quickest and instantly looked around to see how he came in. Ghost smiled as he threw the stone in the air and caught it in an attempt to regain everyone's attention. It worked, the moment that he caught the stone, everyone seemed to snap back to reality.

"I don't intend on being caught officers, so, goodbye." Ghost said as he jumped down a secret hole that was previously hidden by one of the floor tiles. Hao was the fastest of the officers and he quickly jumped down the hole after Ghost. Once Lyserg realized what just happened he ordered the rest of the officers to go outside and search for Ghost. Everyone understood and quickly ran out side and began searching for Ghost and the Earth's Soul.

After Hao jumped in the hole he began sliding down the passage way, a few minutes later he reached the end of the tunnel. When Hao exited the tunnel he saw that he was at the beginning of the Kokoro bridge, when he looked a little harder he could see Ghost walking along the side of the bridge. Hao ran as he tried to catch up with Ghost, unfortunately the cold weather had caused the the bridge to freeze. Hao had almost caught up with Ghost when he slipped on the ice, Hao lost his balance and fell backwards, off the edge of the bridge. At that moment, Hao was pretty sure that he was going to die. All of the other officers were still searching the tower and the thief was probably already gone. Hao was about close his eyes and wait to hit the icy water when suddenly a hand shot out and grabbed hold of his wrist. Hao looked up at Ghost in surprise, he wasn't expecting anyone to save him, mush less Ghost. Ghost held on to Hao as tightly as he could, he didn't want the detective to fall. Hao noticed that Ghost was struggling to pull him up, another difference between them, Hao was stronger. After a few minutes Ghost finally managed to pull Hao back on to the bridge, once Hao was up he looked over the edge of the bridge in slight annoyance. Kokoro bridge was 175 feet high, if anyone fell off the bridge at this height, there would be almost do doubt, they would die. Kokoro bridge was also a place where couples would take their partners out for a date, there were even some rumors that people could meet their true love here as well. A lot of people thought that they should make a gate along the sides of the bridge for safety, what almost happened here only helped prove their point.

"Are you alright?" Ghost asked worriedly.

"Yea, I'm fine. Why did you save me though?" Hao said questioningly.

"If I didn't, then you probably would have died." Ghost replied simply.

"I know that, I meant why. I was trying to catch you, why would you save me?" Hao asked again.

"Because you're not a bad person and I don't think that people deserve to die meaningless deaths. I also think that even the worst type of criminals deserve a second chance, not that I'm calling you a criminal or anything." Ghost added quickly.

Hao couldn't help but laugh slightly at Ghost's comment, the thief was actually kind of funny. The police were still checking around the Oni tower grounds for Ghost and the stone. It was kind of embarrassing how long it was taking for them to figure out that they weren't near the building anymore. Hao looked around and didn't even try to get up, with the harsh cold winds and all the ice that was around him, trying to get up right now would be suicidal. Ghost obviously noticed this also, seeing as how he didn't seem worried about being caught. Ghost slowly got up and looked at Hao, it looked like he was checking to see if there was a possibility of Hao falling off the edge again. Once he was sure that Hao wasn't going to fall of the edge unless he did something crazy, he turned to leave.

"Sorry but I have to go, the police are finally coming to check the bridge and like I said before, I don't intend on getting caught. By officer." Ghost said as he turned around and left.

Hao watched silently as Ghost left, once he was out of sight Hao began to hear the police cars. The cars pulled over once they saw Hao, Lyserg was the first one to rush over. Hao quickly waved to show that he was fine, just stuck. Lyserg mumbled about putting a fence along the edges of the bridge as carefully helped Hao get up without letting him fall off the bridge. As soon as they were away from the edge of the bridge they walked over to the police car and drove back to the police station. Ghost was already long gone and there wasn't really a point in wasting time chasing him when he didn't leave any tracks. After they got back Lyserg asked Hao what happened, Hao looked at everyone in the room, who were all now staring at him, and let out a sigh.

"Well, I was chasing him along the bridge. I had almost caught up to him when I slipped on the ice and fell off of the bridge." Hao began.

"What!? What happened after that?" Ryu exclaimed.

"Ghost saved me, he grabbed my wrist after I fell and managed to pull me back up. Once I was back on the bridge I noticed the wind and the amount of ice around me, I didn't think it would be wise to try to get back up. I asked him why he saved me and his answer was: 'I don't think that people deserve to die meaningless deaths.' After that, he left, and then you guys showed up." Hao explained.

"Well I'm glad that you're safe and it's good to know that Ghost isn't the killing type of criminal. I think that you should take a few days off tomorrow, it looks like you have had a little to much excitement for now. You should spend some time thinking about if you really want to keep this job while you're off, that was your first close call and I know that it can be stressful. No one will blame you if you want to leave." Lyserg said softly.

"Thanks, but can I take my time to think after one more warning letter? If I am going to leave, then I would like to try and help catch him one more time." Hao said with a sincere smile.

"Of course, see you tomorrow then." Lyserg said as they all headed back to their homes.

XxX

Me: Chapter two complete. Please review :)


	3. The Fall on Shinu Church

Disclaimer: I do not own shaman king.

"normal speech"

'_thoughts_'

Writing

XxX

The next day everyone in the police office was on edge. Even though no one would blame Hao if he left, that didn't mean that they wanted him to leave. Lyserg was sorting through his papers while wondering if he was doing everything right. Hao was always the one who would do risky things and he usually laughed about it when he got injured from doing something a little too risky. When Lyserg offered him the chance to take some time off to think, he had honestly expected Hao to be annoyed that he would even suggest it. Lyserg hadn't expected Hao to actually consider it, he was beginning to wonder if he was doing something wrong. Anna could easily tell that Lyserg was worried and Ren was stressed out, but she chose not to do anything. She had a feeling that if she did, she would only make things worse. When Tamao came to deliver the mail that day, nothing was knew, just the usual letters. Hao was beginning to wonder if there was going to even be a theft today. A little while later Jun came in and walked over to Lyserg's desk, Jun didn't visit the police station very often and when she did it was usually just to visit Ren. Jun was one of the nurses at the psychiatric hospital where (Doctor) Faust was being held, she was also Ren's older sister. It was very strange that she wasn't at the police station to visit Ren for once. '_What could she be here for?_' Hao thought.

"Hello Jun, I'm happy to see that you stopped by to visit, is there something wrong?" Lyserg asked with a pleasant smile.

"Well, actually it's about Faust." Jun replied, choosing her words carefully.

"Did he escape?" Lyserg asked in a very concerned tone.

"No, it's not that, he had a visitor this morning." Jun answered quickly.

"Really? Who was it?" Lyserg asked curiously.

"...Ghost." Jun replied, her voice barely over a whisper.

Everyone instantly dropped what they were doing and looked over to Jun. "Ghost?" They all echoed.

"Why did Ghost visit Faust?" Lyserg asked calmly.

"Ghost asked Faust about some old legends and Faust talked with him for an hour about several different stories. When Ghost left, he left this note at the front desk." Jun said as she put the letter on Lyserg's desk.

The letter is going to be a little different today... I talked with Faust because he knows a lot about past events. He told me about a few interesting items and today I am going to steal one of them. But here's the fun part~ I'm going to tell you where and when, but not what. This is a knew game that I'm trying out, if I find it boring then things will go back to the way that they were before. I am going to steal something at the Ancient Tribes museum at 3pm. Funga fufu, see you soon.

"Well, lets go." Ren said before Lyserg had the chance.

Everyone looked at eachother uncertainly before following Ren without a word, none of them bothered to get any traps to put up once they were there. Ren was acting a little off and Lyserg could easily tell that there were two reasons why he was on edge. First, Ghost visited the place where Jun worked, and second, Hao was considering leaving the police department. Lyserg could easily understand what Ren was feeling, Hao was the best student that he had ever taught and he would hate it too if he left... Once they arrived they all got to work on searching for clues on what he might steal. The museum was filled with many priceless artifacts, it would be almost impossible to pinpoint which one without some kind of clue. The clock had just struck three-o-clock, signaling the time that the theft would take place. As Hao was walking down the halls he decided to stop by the gift shop to see if the employees knew anything that might be useful. When Hao walked inside he was shocked to see the person who he was looking for, Ghost. Hao considered calling the other police officers over, but there were three things that made him change his mind. Ghost looked over at Hao in surprise but he made no moves to leave.

"What did you steal?" Hao asked calmly.

"The Pache's Bell, I'm surprised that no one could figure it out." Ghost replied with a simple shrug.

"There were no clues, how could..." Hao trailed off as a thought suddenly came to mind.

"Looks like you figured it out. All of my past thefts have been related to the ancient Patch tribe in some way." Ghost said with a smile.

"Are you wondering why I haven't called the other officers yet?" Hao asked in an amused, but curious tone.

"Actually I was just about to ask you about that." Ghost said, clearly surprised.

"Knowing your past thefts, if I had called the police officers, you would have been long gone by the time they arrived. I figured that if I talked with you, you might tell me what you stole." Hao said with a devious smile.

"That's a fair assessment... Although I would love to talk with you longer, I'm afraid that I have to go. If you do end up quitting your role as a police detective, I'll try to visit some time." Ghost said moments before he jumped out the store window.

The next moment Hao called everyone to the location so that they could give chase. As Hao had anticipated, Ghost was long gone by the time that they started searching. After hours of searching they finally gave up and went back to the police station. The drive back was strangely quiet and once they got back everyone seemed nervous. Four hours had passed and it was now time for everyone to go home. As they all got ready to leave Hao got up and walked over to Chief Ren and Head Detective Lyserg's desks. Anna, Ryu, Ren, Lyserg and the two people that were there for no real reason, Joco and Horohoro, all watched Hao quietly as he walked across the room. When Hao reached their desks he put his detective badge and his handcuffs on the table.

"I was glad I got to work here while I did but I don't think that I can continue so today I am resigning from the police force. Goodbye." Hao gave a small nod as he turned around and left the police station, never once looking back.

XxX

The next day everyone went on with their usual routines. Horohoro and Joco joined the police shortly after Hao had left. Joco used and empty corner desk and Horohoro now used the desk that had previously belonged to Hao. Lyserg was still wondering what he did wrong and if he could have done something else differently. As Lyserg was brooding he got an idea for a trap. Before Hao left he mentioned that Ghost only stole things that were related to the ancient Patch tribe. Currently there was only one thing of the Patch's that remained in the city and if he played his cards right, they might just catch Ghost. The last thing of the Patch's was the Kings Heart, which was located at the Shinu Church. Lyserg got up and told everyone about his plan, some were hesitant at first but soon they all agreed and then got ready to go. When Tamao came to deliver the mail that day she was surprised to see that no one was there. '_That's strange, I wonder where everyone went..._'

XxX

"Is everything ready, Chief Ren and Detective Lyserg?" Horohoro asked as he finished putting up the last part of the trap.

"Yes, now all we need to do is wait for the Ghost to show up." Lyserg said as he hid while waiting for the thief to come.

A few hours later Ghost was walking over to the Shinu church. As he walked closer to the building, he found it strange when he saw that there were no police cars in sight. He knew that the police officers set another trap and he wasn't really worried about it. What did worry him was that he made it all the way to the roof of the church, where the Kings Heart was, without a single problem. He carefully checked the Kings Heart to make sure that it wasn't rigged to set off a trap. Once he was sure that there was nothing wrong he took the precious item and decided that it was time to leave. Ghost carefully walked to the edge of the roof when he understood the reason why that he didn't run into any traps along the way. Circling the entire church was everyone in the police department and they all had their guns pointed straight at him. '_...I'm not sure if things will work out this time, but it doesn't hurt to try._' Ghost thought with a carefree smile.

"Ghost, we will not allow you to escape this time! You are under arrest by the order of the entire police department!" Lyserg shouted through the megaphone.

Ghost looked down at everyone below, he was probably about 50 feet high so if he tried jumping down, it would ether seriously injure him or likely kill him. He looked around while trying to figure a way out of this mess when Lyserg called out to him again.

"Will you surrender willingly or will we have to use force?" Lyserg asked as he pointed his gun directly at Ghost's chest.

"...Whether or not I surrender or try to run, I'm screwed ether way. I think I'll chose the second option though, at least then I'll have a chance." Ghost said in a carefree tone as he turned to leave.

Ghost was about to start running when he heard a loud bang, suddenly he felt an sharp and agonizing pain in his chest. He turned to look at the police officers who were now fighting about something, but for some reason, he couldn't hear what they were saying. He clutched the area where he felt the pain and was confused when it felt wet. He brought his hand back to his face and after seeing it covered in blood, he understood what happened. He had been shot. That explained why he was so dizzy and why everything around him was starting to get blurry. That was probably the reason why the police were arguing as well, no one had been ordered to actually shoot at him. Ghost felt sick and lightheaded, a moment later he faded out of consciousness and fell off the roof of the church. Everyone stared in shock as Ghost fell, all of them were to far away to make it in time to catch him. Everyone was sure that Ghost would probably die from the fall before the bullet killed him.

XxX

Me: Fufufu, another chapter finished.

Yoh: What? You can't leave me like this! Am I going to die or not which is it?

Me: You'll have to wait for the next chapter.

Yoh:...

Me: Please review


	4. Not in the mood

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

As Ghost fell, someone came out from inside the church and caught him, just before he hit the ground. The police were glad when the cloaked stranger caught Ghost and they were about to go over when Lyserg ordered everyone to stop. They all looked up at Lyserg in confusion, taking notice of the way that he was trembling in anger and fear. Ren looked just as confused as everyone else as he tried to figure out the meaning behind Lyserg's strange behavior.

"What are you doing here?" Lyserg asked the cloaked figure with a low growl.

"..." There was no response from the figure. After a moment of staring Ren quickly noticed the reason why Lyserg's attitude changed and he glared at the stranger.

"I asked you what are you doing here?" Lyserg asked, raising his voice with each word.

"..." Again there was no response from the figure as he continued to hold on to the wounded thief while ignoring Lyserg's question.

"What the hell are you doing here, Reaper?!" Lyserg demanded, his fists clenched as he tried to contain his rage.

After Lyserg said that last word, the color drained from everyone's faces as they all thought the same thing. '_Reaper is back?_' Everyone shivered upon remembering when each of them first saw one of his victims, it was a horrible sight to say the least. Although each memory was different, they all had the same horrific effect on everyone. Now that they all got a better look at him, they could tell that he was definitely Reaper. He wore a white cloak during the day and he wore a black one at night. He wore a skull mask that covered most of his face but still let his mouth show. Along with the fact that he was usually seen covered in blood, he wasn't this time, made him give off a frightening aura.

"Hm? I thought that would be obvious. I was preventing him from dying from that fall and being caught by you." Reaper replied, thoroughly enjoying the looks of fear on the officers faces.

"Why? Are you in some kind of agreement with him? Do you know him or something?" Lyserg questioned, his fear showing more than his anger.

"No agreement and I don't know him that well either." Reaper replied with a slight shrug.

"Then why?" Lyserg repeated, pointing his gun at Reaper along with the other officers.

Reaper merely smirked at their foolish attempts to prevent him from leaving. "He amuses me." Reaper replied as he walked away. The police officers shot at him but none of the bullets seemed to hit him and soon, Reaper and Ghost were gone. Lyserg wasn't sure whether to feel relieved that Reaper had left without causing any casualties, angry that they failed to catch him, or worried for the thief who was now in his care. After quickly questioning the officers he found out that the one who had shot the thief was a new recruit. The officer was fired for not obeying orders and shooting someone without permission. When they all went back to the police station they found that Tamao was there waiting for them. Lyserg and Ren explained what happened happened during the trap to her, she was completely quiet until after they were done explaining. Tamao handed them a letter after they were done and then left without a word. Ren and Lyserg looked at each other in confusion as they opened the letter, quickly realizing that it was the warning letter from this morning. It read:

Funga fufu, Hi officers. I wanted to let you all know that today will be my last theft. In case none of you have made the connection yet, everything I have stolen so far has been connected to the Pache tribe. There is a reason for that which I cannot say right now. As far as I know there are no more Patch related items that are in the city and unless another item presents itself, there will be no need for me to steal. I thought I should let you know that I found our little game of cat and mouse very fun. I hope that we will meet again someday, until then I will leave you with this gift. It's my way of saying sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Mata ne~

Within the letter was a crystal dowsing pendulum. It had originally belonged to the Diethel house hold, but had disappeared 10 years ago. It seemed like the the thief was returning it as an apology. Lyserg tried his best not to cry, his father had told him how the pendulum was lost. Lyserg's father, Liam, was chasing a strange thief by the name of Shade. She had managed to out maneuver him and was about to escape but Liam shot her in the leg, causing her fall off the edge of the Itami bridge. The bridge was much smaller than Kokoro bridge but the currents were much harsher. Liam threw out his dowsing pendulum in an attempt to save her. While they waited for the police to show up to help, the pendulum wire snapped. Shade's hand was still holding on to the pendulum as she fell into the river, within mere moments she swept away by the current. Shade was never seen again and after 3 months of searching they eventually found out who she was. Her real name was Keiko Asakura, she had drowned in the river and her 6 year old son disappeared a week after he found her body.

The family refused to say anything about her or her son and they were all eventually wiped out by (Metallic Soldier) Marco a year later. Lyserg had already suspected that Ghost had some relation to Shade but the pendulum had proved it. Ghost was most likely Shade's missing son. Soon the news reporters were swarming the police station, practically begging for someone to come out and answer their questions. Lyserg was about to say that he would take care of it when Ren walked past him to go talk to the reporters. Before any of the reporters could ask a single question Ren yelled at them to shut up. After the reporters had gone quiet with shock Ren explained everything that happened, he also emphasized on the fact that Reaper was back. When he finished explaining he went back inside the police station and slammed the door closed behind him. Luckily the reporters took the hint and left. Lyserg was depressed, Horohoro went back home to take care of his sick sister, and today Ren was not in the mood to be pestered by idiots.

xXx

Yoh: This chapter is kinda short isn't it?

Me: Yea, while I was writing it I kinda made it a bit long so I split it into two chapters.

Yoh: Please review.


	5. An Interesting Turn

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speach"

-Phone conversation-

xXx

Ghost stayed unconscious for about a week before he finally woke up. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room that he was in. The room was white and mostly empty. The only things that were in the room were a bed, a rocking chair that was next to the bed, and a window with metal bars covering it. Ghost slowly looked down at his wound, it had been treated, well bandaged, and appeared to be healing nicely. He now began to wonder how he got here, the last thing that he remembered was being shot and falling off the church roof. The police looked like they were to far away to catch him and even if they did he would probably be in a hospital or a jail cell, but the room was neither. If he had hit the ground then he would have either died or been sent to a hospital and once again, the room was not. He slowly got out of the bed, being careful not to reopen his wound. The wound still hurt, but he managed to walk alright. He walked over to the door and tried opening it... It was locked, he wasn't that surprised though, he would have been surprised if it wasn't. Realizing that it wouldn't do much good to stay at the doorway he walked back over to the bed and sat down, waiting for whoever saved him to come. Ghost sat there waiting for about 20 minutes until he herd the door click unlocked. A moment later the door opened, revealing the wanted criminal, Reaper. Upon seeing Reaper, Ghost felt three emotions which were: surprise, fear, and confusion, in that order.

"Um, did you save me?" Ghost asked nervously, trying and failing to hide his fear.

"That's right, Ghost. What is your real name?" Reaper inquired while slowly walking over to the bed.

"...It's Yoh. Why did you save me?" Yoh asked hesitantly. He originally had no intention of answering, then he remembered who he was talking to. Reaper was not someone who you should trifle with, he was well known for killing because of something like a simple annoyance and Yoh didn't exactly want to provoke him.

"Yoh, I saved you because you amuse me. Although, there are a few other reasons..." Reaper replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed next to him.

"How do I amuse you?" Yoh asked, the close proximity was starting to make him nervous.

"You taunted the police in a way that actually caught my attention. You managed to make the head detective look like an idiot in front of the media. You are cute and innocent, yet you're a thief who managed to evade the traps set by the cops. I find that very amusing." Reaper replied with a smirk.

"Ok. What were the other reasons that you saved me?" Yoh asked, trying not seem scared.

"I want you to steal something for me, the Burning Key to be exact." Reaper replied.

"Oh. Wait, what?" Yoh quickly jumped off the bed and took a few steps back.

Reaper laughed, Yoh truly did amuse him to no end. Yoh didn't seem to realize that regardless of where he was, as long as he stayed in the room, he could easily get to him. "You heard correctly, I said I want you to steal the Burning Key for me." Reaper repeated as he slowly got to his feet. Reaper took a few steps towards Yoh, but with every step he took Yoh took one step back. Soon Yoh found his back pressed against the wall and Reaper standing directly in front of him. Reaper lifted Yoh's chin slightly and leaned a little closer so that his lips were only a centimeter away from Yoh's ear. "That shouldn't be a problem for a thief like you, should it?" He whispered as he gave a playful bite to Yoh's earlobe. Yoh flinched at the contact but tried to stay still. Reaper's smirk widened upon noticing the thief's attempt of trying not to move. He slowly pulled back and let go of Yoh, he stared at him expectantly while waiting for his answer.

"No, I can do it." Yoh replied, slightly doubting his own words.

"Good. Now that the city knows I'm back I might as well make an entrance. I advise that you don't interfere, it won't end well for you if you do." Reaper said as he walked over to the door.

"Wait! Um, how do you want me to steal it? Normally I leave a warning letter to the police. Should I do it differently this time? How will I find you after it's stolen?" Yoh asked quickly.

"No, steal it the same way you always do. I don't want the police to know that I put you up to this. The Burning Key is also an ancient remnant of the Pache tribe so it wouldn't be that strange for you to target it. You won't have to find me after you're done, I'll find you. It'll be easier that way." Reaper replied as he walked out the door, leaving it partially open as he left.

Yoh wasn't sure what to do now. He had been caught by a mass murderer who was known to be completely unpredictable at times. He had to steal the Burning Key which was in the highest security building in he entire city What's more is that Reaper was the one who _requested_ him to steal it. Once Reaper caught interest in something, or someone, he wouldn't give up until he got what he wanted. Now that he had accidentally caught Reapers attention, he wasn't so sure that he would be able to leave easily once he actually stole the Burning Key.

XxX

Once reaper had left the room he took off his cloak and mask and headed into town. The entire town was in a state of panic due to Reaper's reappearance and he intended on taking full advantage of that. As he thought about way's to confirm the rumors of his appearance, he realized a way to completely devastate the police. He was going to rejoin the police force and when Ghost had stolen the burning key, he would let them all know who he was. There was no doubt that ghost could get to the room with the key, but it was highly unlikely that he would be able to get away once he got it. If Ghost got caught then he would reveal himself to the police. If he did it after rejoining the police, then their expressions would probably be twice as funny when they learned of who he was.

XxX

Lyserg was pacing through the office as he tried to figure out the reason for Reaper's reappearance. If Reaper simply wanted to save Ghost then there were plenty of other ways that he could have done so. All he had to do was catch him and leave. The other officers didn't recognize him until he called his name. If Reaper had simply left after catching Ghost, then he probably wouldn't have even known who he was. He would have merely thought that Reaper was an accomplice trying to save him, he didn't have to actually make an appearance. The only explanation that he could think of that made sense of Reapers actions was if he had been watching Ghost and had intended to use that theft as a way to make his appearance known. The question now was what would he do next. The ringing of his phone interrupted his thoughts, he checked the caller ID and was surprised to see that Hao was the one calling.

"Hello Hao. Is something wrong?" Lyserg asked.

-You mean you haven't heard yet!? Come to the clock tower as fast as you can, hurry!-

"Why? What's wrong?" Lyserg asked worriedly, it wasn't like Hao to get so worked up about something.

-Reaper is here!-

*click* Those who overheard the conversation quickly put on their jackets and headed out. The clock tower wasn't that far away and It was faster to run. When they got there Lyserg quickly ran over to the middle of the square and looked around for some sign of what was going on. One of the officers screamed and pointed to the top of the tower. On the sop of the clock tower stood Reaper, completely covered in blood. Below him at the bottom of the tower were piles of bodies surrounding the building. On the outer wall of the tower written in blood were two words: 'I'm Back'. Reaper laughed as the reporters showed up, most of them clearly didn't have the stomach to be in the presence of one of his massacres. After taking a better look at the cops he noticed that most of them didn't either. Only two out of the original seventeen reporters had stayed after seeing the carnage and only one of them actually had the guts to try and ask him something.

"Reaper, why have you returned? What made you this way? How old were you when you first killed?" The Reporter asked quickly as the police officers began taking her away.

"I returned because it's more entertaining for me to do so. What made me this way? Who knows? I am 'this way' because I want to be. The first time I killed was when I was nine if I remember correctly." Reaper replied, acting like it was all just common knowledge.

"Why are you here?" Lyserg asked as the reporter was taken somewhere else.

"To make a scene for my return. Inside the tower that I'm standing on is exactly 50 people. They're all still alive but they won't be for long. A fire is quickly spreading from the inside out and unless you figure out a way to get them all out within the next five minutes they'll die." Reaper said before jumping off of the back of the tower.

One of the police officers ran to the back of the building in hopes of catching Reaper as he landed only to find that he was nowhere in sight. He informed detective Lyserg of this and then went back in line. Ren was trying the doors only to find them to be locked. Suddenly Lyserg got an idea and he pulled out his phone.

-Hao are you there? Are you inside the tower? What's going on?-

-*cough cough* Yea, I'm here. The smoke is starting to get really thick in here and people are starting to panic. We can actually see the fire now and it's getting hard to breathe.-

-What's wrong with the doors? Do you see any exits?-

-The doors are blocked by the remains of a steel column. The *cough* only possible exit that I can see is the windows, but they're too high up and we can't reach them.-

-Just try to hold on, I think I have an idea.-

The moment Lyserg got off of the phone he walked into the crowd of policeman and pulled out Anna. He whispered something to her and the next moment he looked completely livid. Forgetting about the current situation, she ran straight over to the doors of the building and grabbed a chainsaw which had been dropped by the gardener. Because the chainsaw was lying next to the bodies, it had become covered in blood. But Anna didn't even seem to notice as she turned it on and slashed straight through the door and the steel column like they were mere toothpicks. The people inside the building quickly ran out, avoiding the crazy secretary as they did so. Hao was one of the last people to leave, he was carrying a kid who passed out from the smoke and avoiding the collapsing roof as he ran. The minute he got out of the building it collapsed behind him. The fire department came to put out the remainder of the fire while the police counted and questioned everyone there. Lyserg and Ren went over to where Hao was to see what he knew. Anna had counted 22 people which meant that 28 were still in the building when it collapsed. Eight people of the 22 only had minor injuries and the medics were working on helping those with the worst injuries first.

"What exactly happened?" Lyserg asked, partially relieved to see that Hao's injuries weren't that bad.

"I guess I should start from the very beginning..." Hao began.

"I walked down the street on my way to the market. It had only been a day since I quit and Lyserg was already calling me to ask me to come back. I knew about Reaper's appearance, the news had spread like wildfire throughout the town, but I still had no intention of going back. I had left the police department for a reason and unless there was a better reason for me to come back, I had no intention of doing so." Hao paused for a moment to regain his breath before continuing.

"I was walking by the old bell tower when I heard the sound of screaming. I quickly ran over to see what was wrong and was horrified at what I saw. Piles of bodies lined up around the tower and Reaper. Reaper told everyone to get inside the tower or join the corpses outside. He had already shown that he had no problems with killing anyone who didn't and since no one wanted to die, they did as he said. I called Lyserg right before he saw me and a few others. He told us to do the same and led us inside. After we were inside he left, the steel column fell after he shut the door. I smelled the smoke right before someone else screamed that there was a fire. A few minutes passed before everyone realized the true danger of our situation and started panicking. Lyserg called as I was trying to calm everyone down. Then Anna burst through the door with a chainsaw and you all know as much as I do about what happened after that." Hao explained.

"How did you calm everyone down?" Lyserg asked calmly.

"I said I tried, I never said that what I did actually worked. Honestly, I think the image of pissed-off Anna slashing the door down with a bloody chainsaw was more calming to them than anything I tried." Hao replied simply.

"I see. Thank you for informing us." Lyserg said as he turned to leave.

"Wait, Lyserg. I don't want something like this to happen again. I cannot forgive what has happened here! Please, let me rejoin the police force." Hao asked.

Lyserg turned around and threw Hao his badge. "It's good to have you back."

XxX

**Me : **Please review


	6. The Tour

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Yoh was completely lost in thought as he walked through the public park. He was still wasn't sure how he was supposed to steal the burning key. It was in the most high-tech security building in the city _and_ there were over 250 security guards protecting the place. Why on earth Reaper wanted the key in the first place was a mystery to him.

Someone reached out and grabbed his arm, pulling him out of his thoughts and out of the street. Yoh blinked as a big truck raced by, narrowly avoiding getting hit by it. He shuddered at the thought of what would have happened if he hadn't been pulled out of the way in time. His eyes widened in surprise when he turned to face the stranger that had faced him, it was the former detective, Silva.

"You should be more careful when walking, you could have been killed." Silva pointed out.

"Y-Yes, thank you for helping me, I'll try to be more careful." Yoh replied quickly. "If you don't mind me asking, Mr Silva, why are you back in town?"

Silva frowned slightly. "I heard that Reaper has returned and I came to offer my help. I was a friend of Lyserg's father and I know how talented he is, but I also know that Reaper won't be caught with any simple traps. If Lyserg wants to catch Reaper, he's going to need all the help he can get." Silva explained.

Upon seeing Yoh's slightly frightened expression, he tried to change the subject to a more pleasant one. "It's been a long time since I've been to this town and I've long forgotten where most everything is. Would you mind showing me some of the places where well known criminals have made their appearance?"

"Uh, sure. I suppose the fist place that we'll be visiting is Seishin Museum." Yoh said as he began walking in the direction of the building.

As they walked Yoh tried his hardest not to think about how awkward the situation was, a thief showing a detective where recent crimes took place. He also knew that he would have to tell the story of what happened from the media's point of view, which would be a bit hard seeing as how he didn't pay much attention to the news. As they came close to the entrance, he noticed the the security had increased since last time.

"Seishin Museum is where the thief 'Ghost' made his entrance. There's not much of a story to tell here unfortunately, the police department mistook his warning letter for a joke and never showed." Yoh said as he pointed at the building.

"A new criminal? How interesting." Silva muttered.

"The next thing he stole was the cursed bear necklace. He managed to evade the police and earn his title 'Ghost' with this theft. Unfortunately, I'm not sure where it was held." Yoh said apologetically.

"No problem, I'm just happy that you are taking the time to show me around in the first place." Silva replied with a smile.

Yoh nodded before heading to Oni Tower. It was an hour long walk and he had to say that he enjoyed listening to the detective's tales as he walked. The detective had told him stories of how he helped Lyserg's father catch some of the greatest criminals. He felt a little intimidated by some of the stories, but did a pretty good job of hiding it. He stopped at Kokoro Bridge and decided that it would probably be a better idea to tell the story there, Oni Tower had been in complete lock down after the theft anyway.

Yoh pointed towards the tower and began telling the short story. "Oni Tower is where the Earth's Soul was taken. The thief actually showed his face to the police and not only that, but he also took the Earth's Soul from right in front of them." Yoh paused before deciding to continue. "A cop chased him across the bridge, but ended up slipping on the ice. The cop fell off the edge, he would have died if Ghost hadn't saved him."

"The thief saved him? That's surprising." Silva said questioningly.

"Yea, everyone else thinks so too. Come on, the next stop is at the Ancient Tribes museum." Yoh said cheerfully.

As they walked to the next place, Yoh pulled out a piece of paper and started writing. Being in the company of the detective had given him an idea of what to write for the warning letter. Reaper had told him that he didn't want the police to know that he was the one who told him to steal the key. This made writing the letter a little harder, he had to be careful with his words so that the police wouldn't be suspicious. The detective was walking a little ahead of him which gave him the chance to write everything down before they reached the Ancient tribes museum.

"This time when the police were searching for the thief, they knew when the theft would take place but not what he was intending to steal. By the time they realized what had been stolen, he was already gone." Yoh explained.

"It's obvious to me that he stole something from the Pache Tribe, all of his previous thefts had been related in that way." Silva announced.

Yoh laughed at the sudden outburst by the detective, but then grew slightly dejected when he realized what the next place would be. "I'm afraid I can only show you one more place, I have to get going after that." Yoh said, trying to hide how upset he was.

"I understand. Where are we going next?" Silva asked cheerfully.

"...Shinu Church." Yoh replied, he started walking before Silva could ask anything.

The walk to the church was quiet, unlike the walks to the other places. Ever since he had been shot on the roof and saved by Reaper, he hated that place. As he came closer to the building, memories of that day started coming back to him, giving him a huge headache in the process. Everything seemed to be happening so fast at the time and he could hardly tell what was going on, but he remembered everything clearly now.

He remembered the sound of the gunshot and how he couldn't hear a word that the police said after that, even though they seemed to be arguing. He remembered the pain in his chest and that sticky wet feeling of his own blood when he touched the area that he had been shot. He remembered the sound of his own heartbeat, growing slower by the minute and how everything else just seemed to fade into black. He could look up at he roof of the church and imagine himself falling into the hands of Reaper, who was waiting below him.

"This is where Ghost disappeared and Reaper made his appearance." Yoh said slowly.

"What do you mean?" Silva asked, very confused.

"The police had figured out where the theft was going to take place beforehand and left to set a trap before the warning letter arrived. When Ghost walked into the church, he must have been confused. There was no one there, no signs of the police at all. Ghost went to the church's roof and took the King's Crown without a problem. When he reached the edge of the roof, he found himself completely surrounded by cops who all had their guns pointed at him. Lyserg told him to surrender, but he said no and then turned to leave." Yoh felt his chest tighten slightly as he recalled what happened next.

"One of the officers shot him... Despite Lyserg's warning, no one was actually supposed to shoot him yet. The police argued as Ghost started to loose consciousness. Ghost soon passed out and fell off of the roof, the police were all to far away to catch him, everyone was sure that he would die from the fall before the bullet killed him. Before he hit the ground, someone came out from withing the church and caught him. That _someone_ was Reaper. Reaper took the thief and left, the police were unable to catch him. The only reason that he stated for saving the thief was 'He amuses me'." Yoh said hesitantly.

"You speak as thought you were actually there." Silva said, surprised by the story.

"I'm just really good at telling stories I suppose." Yoh said passively.

"I see. Thank you for showing me around and telling me about all these things that happened. I should probably head to the police station now though." Silva said simply.

"Um, could you give this to Lyserg? I know that he has been feeling upset lately about letting Reaper get away and I thought that something like this might help." Yoh said with a forced smile.

"Of course." Silva said as he accepted the letter. "Oh, before you go... Here, take this. It's my way of saying thanks for showing me around." Silva added, throwing Yoh a pair of orange headphones as he waked away.

Yoh smiled as he looked at the object. "You know..." Yoh whispered as Silva walked out of sight, "I wonder if you'll still feel the same way when you find out that I'm Ghost."

XxX

Me: Please review.


	7. Before the Theft

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Silva smiled as he walked towards the police station, he hadn't seen Lyserg since he was eight and was a bit excited to see how much he had grown. He hadn't expected to take so long getting there, but he figured that he had better get up-to-date on all the recent crimes before arriving and meeting that boy was a good chance. The boy had seemed a bit timid the entire time, he wondered if he had said something to scare him by accident.

When he walked into the building, he was happy to see that everyone was working seriously without looking too sleep deprived. He noticed a few new people working as well as some people that he had seen before. It shocked him a bit when he saw that one of the officers looked a lot like the boy he had met earlier. This boy looked a bit less childish though.

"Hello Lyserg, It's been a while." Silva greeted.

"Silva! I'm so glad to see you. Why are you here?" Lyserg asked happily.

Everyone else dropped what they were doing and looked at Silva in surprise and awe, he was like a living legend amongst detectives. Silva had helped catch several criminals and solve many difficult crimes. Back when Lyserg's father was head detective, Silva had helped him solve a case which eventually led to the capture of one of the most well known criminals at the time.

"I heard that Reaper is back and I want to help you catch him." Silva said seriously.

"I see. Thank you, you're help will be much appreciated." Lyserg said calmly.

Silva smiled. "Oh, before I forget. Here." Silva handed Lyserg the note. "I met a boy in town today, stopped him from walking into the street and getting hit by a car. He showed me around and told me the stories of a few recent crimes. He also told me about the new thief. Before I left to go to the station, he asked me to give that to you." Silva explained as Lyserg opened the letter.

Lyserg's eyes widened and he quickly had to try and stop himself from crying. Noticing everyone's worried expressions, he decided to read the letter aloud so that the all could hear.

"Funga Fufu~ Hi detectives, I'm back. Lyserg, I heard that you were worried about me, being shot and caught by Reaper certainly was pretty scary. Personally, I hope that I don't have to meet him again. I suppose I'm lucky that me finds me amusing, otherwise who knows what would've happened to me. It's not your fault that I was shot or that Reaper caught me, you were just doing your job in trying to catch me. Not that I intend on being caught~ It seems like Reaper likes watching me steal, as long as I don't come close to getting caught again, I don't think that I will end up seeing him again. Oh, that reminds me! Today I am going to steal the Burning Key at 10:00pm. See you there~" Lyserg read.

"Wait, so that boy I met today was Ghost?" Silva asked, surprised.

"If he looked like me but with shorter hair, then yes." Hao replied simply.

"Is he nuts or something." Anna said questioningly, "The Burning Key is in one of the most secure places in the city, I doubt he'd even be able to reach it."

"We underestimated him before and that's how he managed to escape us." Lyserg said calmly.

"Except when he was caught by Reaper." Hao pointed out. "Though I may not have been there, the whole city know what happened."

"Hm, I think that we should treat this a bit like fishing. I won't explain the full plan in detail right now, I'll just give the summary. We'll let the security system do it's job in slowing him down and then we'll work together with the security guards to lead him into a trap. If we catch him, I think that we might be able to use him lure out a bigger fish." Silva said calmly.

"The bigger fish being Reaper?" Hao asked curiously.

"Exactly. This is the first time in ages that he's found something or in this case 'someone', that he's interested in. I doubt that he'll just sit back and allow Ghost to be caught and sent to prison. But there is one thing that concerns me, why is Ghost going to steal the Burning Key?" Silva asked to no one in particular.

"What do you mean? It's a remnant of the patch tribe, like all of his previous thefts. Is it strange to you that he would?" Lyserg asked, confused.

"Well, when he told me the story of what happened on Shinu Church, he looked... upset. I don't think that he realized it, but he subconsciously clutched onto a part of his shirt where, I can only assume, the wound was. When he mentioned Reaper, he looked scared, and when he mentioned Reapers reason for saving him, he seemed nervous. Not something you would expect when listening to someone telling a simple story." Silva informed.

"Do you think that Reaper had something to do with Ghost's decision to steal the key?" Hao asked calmly.

"I am not entirely sure, but I suspect so. We will have to question him once we catch him in order to be positive." Silva said simply.

"Well, we've been talking for a while now. It's almost 8:00, we only have two hours to set the trap. Hao, Silva, Horohoro, Anna, Ren, Joco, and Ryu, please come with me. Everyone else, stay back in case Reaper makes an appearance somewhere in the city while we're gone." Lyserg ordered.

"Yes sir!" Everyone replied.

XxX

Ghost sighed as he stared at the building before him, he really just wanted to leave. The only reason why he stayed was because he feared what Reaper would do to him if he didn't. The struck 9:50. He figured that if he didn't want a pissed off murderer chasing after him, he should probably get started. Five minutes to get in, five minutes to get to the key, and the rest of the night to get out. '_Well, this should be fun._' Ghost thought sarcastically as he entered the building.

XxX

Ghost: Why am I Here?

Lyserg: *starts chasing Ghost*

Ghost: *runs*

Me: Well, I felt like I have been being a bit mean to Lyserg in this story lately with the media, chasing Ghost, and Reapers appearance... So I decided to let him catch you in the authors note :)

Ghost: What?!

Lyserg: *tackles Ghost* Finally, I caught him!

Me: *rolls eyes* Good for you.

Ghost: Please review


	8. The Escape

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Ghost sneaked into the building through a small air vent, which led to the changing rooms. Once inside, he picked out a uniform and hat which fit him. He had rewired to go out for exactly five seconds right about... now. He quickly ran out the door and headed towards the nearest shift change. Two seconds left. He slowed his pace and walked the rest of the way over to the other guards as the cameras went back on.

'_Just in time._' Yoh thought as the chief guard told him where he was supposed to go. The first thing that he was supposed to do was check the room with the key to make sure that it was still there, then he was supposed to go on patrol around the building. There were two other guards that would be coming with him to check the room, not that it would be a problem for him.

When they opened the door to the room and started checking around, he casually brought up the subject that the key might be fake. It took a bit of talking, but eventually one of the other guards took the key off it's post and examined it. After a moment, he laughed and announced that it was real and that there was no need to worry. The guard threw the key to him and told him to check for himself. The guard was either new, arrogant, or just plain stupid, but it helped him either way.

As he caught it, he secretly switched it out with a fake that he made earlier and acted worried about the guard throwing the artifact. The other guard, which was smarter than the first, took he key from him and placed it back where the original belonged. The smart guard told them to stop goofing off in such a situation and hit them both over the head as they left the room.

Ghost was thankful that the guard didn't hit him hard enough to leave a bruise, that would have made it harder to get away later. As he switched to his next shift, he glanced at the clock. It had been six minutes, one more minute than he had originally anticipated. As he waited for the final minutes to pass, he did the normal patrols just like any other guard.

While he walked around, he noticed that most of the guards wore the same expression, one filled with anxiety but painted over with pride. Though everyone was nervous about the key being stolen, it was their job to look confident about preventing it's theft. As he patrolled various parts of the building, another three minutes passed. He counted eight police officers patrolling the building as well.

The police thought that he had exactly one minute to get inside the room, which was now standing directly behind him. He was guarding the room along with two other guards and Chief Ren. They didn't know that he had already taken the key, but he was sure that they would figure it out by the end of the minute. At the last few seconds before the minute, two other guards and the two detectives came to replace them.

He was now assigned to patrol the outside with the Ren. The minuted had ended and Yoh now waited quietly for the outburst that he was sure would come any second now. "The Burning Key has been stolen!" Yup, there it was. Ren's eyes grew wide and he raced back inside, ordering him to guard the entrance and not let anyone out. He waited quietly for about ten minutes until another guard came to switch shifts with him.

He was now supposed to go and guard the back entrance, but of course, he never arrived at his shift. Once he was out of the camera's range, he walked into the forest surrounding the building and discarded his guard uniform. Luckily, he had prepared a change of clothes ahead of time. He took out his change of clothes and quickly got to work on getting dressed. This was definitely going to be his most embarrassing escape plan yet, but if it worked, then it would be worth it.

He hooked on a bra which, he was embarrassed to say, fit quite well. He quickly put on a pair of purple tights before putting on a short black dress. After that, he wore a purple hoodie and changed his shoes from sneakers to black high heels. Once he was done with all that, he put his hair up into a pony tail and added a sparkly hair-clip to keep his bangs out of the way. He slipped into the crowd of people, waiting at the front gate, with no trouble at all. Then he waited until the announcement was made.

"Attention everyone!" Lyserg called. "The Burning Key has been stolen!" After he said that, the crown went into an uproar. Though he tried to get everyone to quiet down, nothing seemed to work. They only calmed down when Silva came out a few moments later.

"As Lyserg has said, the key is gone... But we believe that the thief may be amongst one of you. If all of you would please be willing to cooperate with us, we might just catch him. Please head over to one of the officers waiting by the police cars and form a single filed line to speak to said officer. Once the officer has decided that you are not under suspicion, you may leave." Silva informed.

There were many grunts of disapproval from amongst the crowd, but surprisingly, everyone followed the instructions. Ghost found himself in a line for that one cop that he had saved on Kokoro bridge. He had hoped to get in another line where he would be less likely to be recognized, but unfortunately, all of those lines were very long. The questions that the officer asked would change per person and he really had no idea what to expect when it was his turn. He was the last in line anyway.

"Hello, my name is Hao. What is your name, miss?" The officer said politely, though he looked completely uninterested in the whole situation.

"Yoshiko Sakura." Ghost replied in a sweet tone.

Hao actually looked at him when he responded, much to his surprise. The officer had hardly glanced at any of the previous people he had questioned. He desperately hoped that Hao didn't recognize him. After a moment Hao's eye's wandered slightly and it occurred to him what was going on. '_Is he checking me out?_' Ghost thought in disbelief.

"How old are you?" Hao asked, slightly more interested in the conversation.

"I'm sixteen." Ghost replied simply.

"Why are you here?" Hao asked calmly.

"Heard that Ghost was going to try and steal the burning key today, I wanted to see what happened." Ghost answered.

"Alright. I don't see you as a suspicious person. Ghost is male anyways. I doubt that he could pull off such a cute look." Hao said with a smile.

"Is there anything else, or can I go?" Ghost said quickly.

"My apologies, you can go." Hao said as he returned to what he was previously doing.

Ghost nodded and then left, wondering how on earth Hao had managed to become an officer in the first place.

XxX

Yoh: O.o What the heck inspired you to write this?

Me: Randomness.

Yoh: -_-; I had to wear a dress because of randomness?

Me: Yup.

Yoh: T.T Why me?

Me: Because it's fun to torture you.

Yoh: …

Me: Please review


	9. Quite the Contrary

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

xXx

Yoh sighed as he walked back to his house, he knew that Reaper would probably come for the key soon. He didn't like the thought of having Reaper in is house, but he didn't exactly know where else to go. He didn't have any friends and the rest of his family had been killed off by Marco when he was seven. There wasn't really anywhere else for him to go. The growling of his stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten yet either.

"You hungry?" A familiar voice asked.

Yoh turned around to see who had spoken to him, he was surprised to see the officer from earlier. '_Did he follow me all the way here?_' Yoh thought, a little crept out. His stomach growled again before he had the chance to reply.

"I'll take that as a yes. I can get you something to eat if you want." Hao said with a smile.

Yoh had intended to object, but his stomach once again silenced him. Instead, he just nodded in embarrassment.

Hao laughed playfully and grabbed a hold of his hand. He tried not to trip as Hao led him to a nearby fast food place. Hao ordered a cheeseburger and he got the same. As they walked over to a table to eat, Yoh felt that a lot of people were staring at him. '_I bet they think that we're a couple..._' Yoh thought as he sat down and took a bite of his burger. As he tried to think about it from another person's perspective, he realized that they did look a lot like a couple.

He didn't mind all the people staring or the occasional giggling from the girls. They could think whatever they wanted, it didn't matter to him. As soon as they both had finished eating, Hao grabbed his hand once again and the walked out of the building. Yoh laughed, it seemed like Hao wasn't the type that liked crowds. He wasn't really sure where they were going, but he didn't really mind. He was a little surprised when they arrived at the street where he lived, he could even see his house from where he was standing.

"You live around here, right?" Hao asked curiously.

"Yea... how did you know that?" Yoh asked suspiciously.

Hao gave him a knowing smile. "I know a lot of things. Mind if we go to your place?"

Yoh paused, he suddenly had a very bad feeling about Hao. He wasn't sure why he had this feeling, but certainly didn't want him near his house. The feeling was a little strange, just a moment ago he had thought Hao was a nice, maybe a little creepy, police officer that was obviously hitting on him. Now, he had this feeling that Hao was somehow... different, dangerous, and that feeling was telling him to get the hell away from him.

"I don't know..." Yoh said hesitantly.

"I want to talk to you about a few things, but here isn't really the place to say it. Isn't that right, Ghost?" Hao asked with a smile.

"You knew?" Yoh asked, surprised.

"You honestly thought I wouldn't?" Hao scoffed. "You saved me from falling off a bridge. Plus, It's kind of hard to mistake someone who looks almost exactly like you. It surprised me that you were wearing a dress, but I would have been able to tell it was you regardless of your disguise. Now, do you really want to continue this conversation _here_ or can we do it at your place?"

"It's the blue house on the right..." Yoh said with a sigh of defeat.

Hao smiled and walked over to the house that Yoh pointed out. Yoh only locked the door when he was home, so Hao was able to walk right in without a problem. Yoh went to the kitchen while Hao closed and locked the door behind them. Even if he wasn't really sure that he wanted Hao here, Hao was still a guest. He came back ten minutes later with two cups of tea. He handed Hao one cup and then took a seat on the couch sitting across from him.

"If you knew who I was all along... Why didn't you tell the detectives?" Yoh asked curiously.

"It would have make it more difficult for me if I had." Hao replied simply. "I'm the one who told you to steal the key after all."

Yoh almost choked on his drink at the comment and he glanced back at Hao doubtfully. Was this some sort of trick from the police? Hao looked serious though, dead serious. "Is this some kind of trick?" Yoh asked, confused.

"No, it's not. I may be a police officer, but I am only working at the station 'cause I was bored and it was fun. I told you that I would find you after you stole the key, so here I am." Hao said calmly.

"S-So you're... Reaper?" Yoh asked fearfully.

"That's right." Hao said as he motioned for Yoh to come hit next to him. Yoh set down his tea and slowly walked over. Before he had the chance to sit down next to him, Hao wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him into his lap. Yoh wasn't sure whether to feel scared or embarrassed, so he decided to go with both.

"So, where is the key?" Hao asked calmly.

"Would you mind letting me get changed first?" Yoh asked quickly.

Hao seemed to ponder the idea for a moment, eventually he released his hold on Yoh's waist. Yoh got up and quickly headed over to his room to get changed. Once he was inside, he swore that he would never let a stranger in his house again. He put on a simple white tee-shirt and a pair of gray sweat pants. Once he had taken out the ponytail and hair-clip, he walked back into the living-room, where Hao was still waiting.

"Here it is." Yoh said as he handed Hao the key.

"Thanks. In case you didn't know, this is the last known remnant of the Pache tribe. What are you going to do now that there aren't any more artifacts?" Hao asked curiously.

"I don't know." Yoh replied simply.

"Hm? Why did you start stealing in the first place then?" Hao asked as he slowly got to his feet.

"I was continuing where my mom left off. She had wanted to return the artifacts to where they belonged, in the hands of the Patch tribe. The tribe still exists, it has just hidden itself from today's society. Whenever I stole, I did so only to return what had been stolen from them. Now that there is nothing left left to return to the Patch tribe, I have no reason to continue being a thief. Sorry if I disappoint you." Yoh said as he walked back to the kitchen.

Before he reached the doorway, he was grabbed by the upper arm and pushed roughly against the wall. He flinched as his head came in contact with the hard surface. The heavy feeling on his back told him that Hao was standing directly behind him. He tried to turn his head to look at him, but was only pushed harder into the wall when he did so. He wondered if Hao was mad, would he try to kill him if he was?

"Disappoint me? Quite the contrary. If you had said anything thing that a normal thief would have said, I would have been disappointed. Right now, I'm more intrigued than ever." Hao whispered. "You know, the police already know your real name. They'll probably find this place by tomorrow."

Hao paused, looking thoughtful for a moment, before continuing. "Since you obviously don't have anywhere else to go, why don't you come with me? You already said that you don't know what you're going to do. If you came with me, it would make that decision easier for you, don't you think?"

Yoh's eyes widened as he turned to face Hao. "You want me to come with you? Why?"

"Because you don't have anything else to do and I'm interested in you." Hao replied simply.

"...I refuse." Yoh said hesitantly.

"You refuse? And why is that?" Hao asked, his tone somewhat cold.

"I don't want to be living alone with a psychopath." Yoh said bluntly.

"...Is that all? If you don't want to live alone with me, then pick someone else that you'd like come with." Hao said as he released Yoh.

"Faust. If you can get Faust to come, I'll go with you." Yoh said, his voice just above a whisper.

Hao smirked. "Alright. He'll be there tomorrow. You should probably get whatever you want to take with you now, I'll come to get you later tonight." Hao said as he walked out the door.

Yoh let out a long sigh as he slumped to the floor. '_What have I gotten myself into this time?_'

XxX

**Me:** Today in the authors note, I'm gonna be responding to a few reviewers/reviews

**Lightning-Claire:** I'll try to ad a few more cute scenes between the two of them soon

**Froim:** Thanks :) I thought adding the dress would make things more interesting XD

**SK-fan7:** Haha. I considered the idea of having Hao feel him up, but I didn't want to end up changing the rating ;)

**rentamiya:** :)

**KaiAbelinda:** Thanks, I'm happy you do :)

**Shadow Phoenix 16:** I hope this chapter answers your question :)

**Kanrei:** I'll try

**NekoKitty13:** Thanks:)

**Guest:** Ok, I'll try to ad more soon XD

**venoMM:** Thank you:)

**DreamKitsune:** Thanks. It made me happy to know that it gave off the mood I had intended:)

**To Everyone:** Thank you all for reading my story:) To those who review, thank you, your reviews make me really happy:)


	10. Faust

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Yoh looked blankly at his suitcase. He didn't have much that he considered important, one small suitcase fit everything. The suitcase itself didn't really matter to him, it was juts something that he had gotten when he started traveling. He wasn't sure what to feel as he glanced at the clock. It was almost midnight and Reaper had yet to arrive. He knew that he should probably feel worried, but all he felt was tired.

The clock seemed to be moving at an agonizingly slow pace, every second seemed to last an hour. He looked back at his bed. He didn't want to be asleep when reaper came, but he wasn't sure he'd be able to stay awake long enough for him to arrive. If Reaper came while he was asleep, he'd wake him up, wouldn't he? At that point, he didn't really care. He laid down on his bed, looking at the clock once more before falling asleep.

XxX

Hao smiled at Opacho as he handed her the letter. She had been asking him for weeks if there was something she could do to help. He would never let her do anything dangerous, which made this the perfect task. It wasn't hard to do, but she was the only one who he trusted enough to do it with out messing up. He put on his mask as she entered the front of the building.

He smiled as he opened the door to one of the air vents, this was his first time sneaking into a place to get what he wanted. Normally, he'd just go through the front door and kill anyone who got in his way. He couldn't do that this time because he wanted Faust to come with him willingly. It would make things easier if he did. Why Yoh wanted Faust of all people was something that he intended to ask him later about.

He carefully crawled into the small vent. It was cramped and dusty, it was something that he was going to avoid doing again if he could help it. There were many, twists, turns, and different paths within the vent. A normal person would've gotten lost at least a dozen times by now. ***click *** Good thing he wasn't a normal person. He looked into the room below him where Faust was currently confined. The plan had gone well so far. Now, all he had to do, was wait.

XxX

Opacho smiled as she walked to the front desk, Hao-sama had given her a task to do. He told her what was going to happen, she reminded her self many times so that she wouldn't forget. When she finally reached the desk, she met a lady with green hair. The lady was really nice, maybe she could convince the lady to follow her outside. Then she wouldn't be killed by Hao-sama when he helped Faust escape.

"Hello there, my name is Jun. What are you doing here?" Jun asked as she handed Opacho a small lollipop.

"Opacho wants to see Faust. Daddy wanted Opacho to give him something." Opacho said with a smile.

"Oh, I see. Faust is a scary person you know, Opacho. How about I come with you to make sure you stay safe?" Jun asked, trying not to seem worried.

"Ok." Opacho replied happily.

Jun smiled and led Opacho down to Faust's room. She said that she had something to give him, so she wouldn't be staying long, right? Jun hesitantly opened the door to Faust's room. She watched quietly from the doorway as Opacho walked over to Faust and handed him a box. Faust looked at the box questioningly and began to open it as Opacho walked back out of the room. Jun was a bit surprised, she hadn't expected the visit to be _that_ short.

"Um, Jun-san? Daddy has an errand to do before he can pick up Opacho. Would Jun-san wait with Opacho outside for daddy to come?" Opacho asked with teary eyes.

"Alright." Jun replied with a smile. She knew that she really should be getting back to work, but who could say no to that?

XxX

Faust stared at the note with surprise. It read: Hello Faust. It's a pleasure to meet you, or at least, it will be soon. I've recently _requested_ that Ghost to stay with me, but he's a bit hesitant to accept. I was wondering if you would like to get out of here and come with me. He said that he might be more open to the idea if you were there. Just say your answer aloud, I'll be listening. -Reaper.

'_His name is written in blood, I wonder if it's a habit of his?_' Faust thought as he stared at the name on the note.

"You are basically asking me if I want to stay in a mental institution for the rest of my life or come live with a psychopath... I'll chose living with a fellow psychopath. We'll have a lot to talk about on the way." Faust said calmly.

Reaper kicked the air-vent open and slipped into the room. Granted, it wasn't one of his best entrances, but I worked. Faust looked at him, and to Reaper's surprise, he smiled. "How are we leaving?" Was all he asked.

"Through the front door. There's someone waiting for me at the entrance."

XxX

Opacho grabbed hold of Jun's hand when she tried to run back to the building. The alarm bells were screaming, their calls seemed to reverberate all throughout the street. Lights flashed a bright warning red, consuming the attention of all passers by. It was plainly obvious that something was wrong, the alarm hadn't gone off for over six years, it was only to be used for the utmost emergency's.

"Daddy will be here soon, please don't leave." Opacho said sadly.

Jun felt greatly conflicted, she needed to go back to find out what was wrong inside, but she couldn't just Opacho there. She didn't like having to wait, not knowing what was going on and being unable to assist. Luckily, she didn't have to wait long. "Daddy!"Opacho yelled as she ran towards the entrance. Jun's eyes widened in horror as she saw Reaper and Faust exit the building.

Reaper quickly caught Opacho as she jumped into his arms. She whispered something into his ear before he turned to face Jun. "Thank you for looking after Opacho while I did my little errand, she says that you were very nice. Unfortunately, I should probably get going before the police show up. Please tell that little brother of yours that I said hello, Jun-chan." Reaper said in a pleasant tone.

"...A-Alright." Jun said, her voice quiet and wavering.

Reaper seemed content with that answer and turned to leave. He gave Opacho a piggyback ride as he walked away, leaving Jun staring in shock at the place where he had been. Once Reaper, Opacho, and Faust had disappeared from sight completely, he reached for her phone. She slowly dialed the number and put the phone to her ear, waiting quietly for the person to pick up. *Ring... Ring... Ring... *

XxX

Me:...

Yoh: Please review


	11. Just Complicated

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

*Ring... Ring... Ring... * Ren looked down at the caller ID wondering who would be crazy enough to call at this hour. He saw his sister's name and answered it. He wondered if she was calling because he wasn't home yet. It was 1:30am but he was still back at the office along with Lyserg, Ryu, and Horohoro. He really hoped that Jun wasn't calling to lecture him about staying out late.

-R-Ren? Are y-you still a-at work?-

Ren frowned upon hearing her voice, she sounded scared. "Yes. A few of as stayed back late. Why?"

-Something... happened. P-Please come to the m-mental institution as s-soon as you can... Bring the others... I'll explain w-when you get here.-

*click *

"Lyserg! Ryu! Horohoro! Come on! We're going to the mental institution!" Ren growled.

All three of them stared at Ren in shock from the sudden outburst. Sure, Ren was known to have a short temper, but this was the first time any of them had seen him so freaked out. He slammed the door shut behind him as he walked out of the station, reminding everyone what he had just said. Lyserg grabbed his gun and followed Ren out the door along with Ryu and Horohoro. Curious about what had happened to get him so shaken up.

XxX

Silva stood in front of the door of Asakura Yoh's house. Shortly after the theft, he had found the place where Yoh was currently staying. He, Jocolove, and Anna had decided to go to his house in hopes of arresting him. Lyserg chose to stay back at the office, should anything happen while they were gone. 3... 2… 1... Before he had the chance to kick open the door, Anna turned the handle to find it unlocked.

Silva hid his embarrassment as he walked into the house. Once all three of them were inside, Joco closed the door and turned on the lights. Anna was a little surprised to see that the house looked normal. The living-room was spacy and didn't have much in the line of decorations. There were two black couches facing each other in the middle of the room with a small coffee table between them. On the coffee table were two cups of tea. Silva walked closer and picked up one of the glasses.

"It's cold." Silva stated. "It looks like he had company, but whoever it was left a while ago."

Silva put the cup back down and walked towards the hallway while Anna and Joco checked the kitchen. The first door led to a closet, which held only a single coat. The second door led to the restroom, which was fairly plain, a pair of orange shower curtains were the only thing with color. When he reached the last door, Anna and Joco finished their investigation of the kitchen. They stood behind him as he quickly yanked the door open. Anna flipped on the light switch to show the room before them.

It appeared to be the only bedroom in the house. The walls were a bright orange with a few posters of 'Soul Bob' placed around. The only furniture in the room was a twin sized bed, which was placed at the wall to the right, below an open window. As Anna walked closer to the bed, she caught sight of a small piece of paper. She frowned upon opening it, it was written in another language that she wasn't familiar with. As they walked back out of the room, she handed the note to Silva.

"It's in German." Silva stated upon opening it. "It says: Hello officers. You're probably here looking for Ghost, am I right? If that's the case, then you should know that you are a bit late. Ghost... On second thought, why am I even calling him that? We all know that his name is Yoh. As I was saying before, Yoh, is now going to me staying with me from now on along with Faust. I came to pick Yoh up at 2:00am, I wonder if we passed each other when you headed towards this house. Well, see you soon... Signed Reaper."

Anna slammed her fist into the wall as hard as she could. "It's 2:12, we came in the house at 2:02. I can't believe that we missed them by two minutes." Anna said bitterly.

"I know how you feel Anna, but we should probably get back to the office. We need to tell everyone what happened."

XxX

"Jun! What happened? Are you alright?" Ren asked quickly.

"Yes. I'm fine. I'm the only one who is though. Everyone else... is dead." Jun replied.

"What happened?" Lyserg asked calmly.

"R-Reaper came and left with Faust. I-I tried going back inside after they left, only to find that everyone else had been killed. The smell of blood was unbearable." Jun said, her voice barely over a whisper.

"How come you're alive if he killed everyone else?" Horohoro asked, ignoring the glare from Ren.

"W-Well, probably because I wasn't in the building when he started killing. You see..." Everyone remained silent as she explained what happened with Opacho. Lyserg looked completely shocked when she mentioned how Reaper had acted toward Opacho. To hear Reaper act so friendly towards a child was very shocking to him, to say the least. As Ren, Lyserg, and Horohoro listened to her story, Ryu went inside the building to investigate.

"This Opacho child, you say that she treated Reaper like her father?" Lyserg questioned.

"Yes." Jun replied.

"I know that reaper is masked, but did you notice any similarities between them?" Lyserg asked carefully.

"...No. I didn't notice any at all. Though, if you ask me, I'd say Reaper seemed a bit young to be a father." Jun said hesitantly.

" What do you mean?" Lyserg asked curiously.

"I'm not sure I can explain it that well. I suppose that the best way to say it is that he had the physique of a teenager." Jun answered.

"Huh?" Horohoro asked, his confusion was obvious.

"He wasn't wearing a shirt." Jun replied simply.

"Did he have any marks or scars?" Lyserg asked quickly.

"Um, I think I saw a scar, but I'm afraid I can't remember where." Jun said apologetically.

"Do you think you could remember if you saw him again?" Lyserg asked.

"I'd know if I saw." Jun replied.

As Ren went to go comfort his sister, Lyserg turned towards the building, horrified to see it covered in flames. Ryu burst out the front door screaming for everyone to run. Everyone looked at him for a second before taking off in some random direction. Lyserg tried to ask what was going on but Ryu just lifted him over his shoulder and took off. He dove behind one of the police cars moments before the building exploded.

"What the hell?" Ren yelled as he looked back at the remains of the building.

"When I went to check it out, I found two things. A note and a bomb. I ran out of the building the moment I saw the bomb." Ryu panted, out of breath from the run.

"There's nothing left of the place!" Lyserg exclaimed.

"Um, I still have the note." Ryu said as he handed Lyserg the letter.

Lyserg quickly read through the small note before looking back at his team. "We need to head back to the office, Jun will come with us. We have to tell the others what happened. According to this letter, Reaper has both Faust and Ghost. Things have just gotten a lot more complicated."

Everyone followed him back to the office, the car had been damaged in the explosion so they had to walk. As they headed back, not a single one of them noticed that they were being watched. A skull masked person gazed down at them from his perch in a nearby tree. A sigh escaped his lips as he watched them walk back to the station.

"_Just_ getting complicated? How naïve. Lyserg, you're _supposed_ to be a great detective, I'm disappointed. Allow me to personally show you just how _complicated_ things are going to get from here on out." Hao muttered as he watched the officers fade out of sight.

XxX

Faust: Guten tag. I'm surprised that I'm in the authors note this time.

Lyserg: Speaking of which, where is she?

Faust: She muttered something about not enough time, too many things to do, cats eating her headphones, cursed spiders, and dentist appointment from hell before running off.

Lyserg: WTF?

Faust: My thoughts exactly.

Lyserg: Ok then...

Faust: Please review.


	12. Annoyed

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX (later that day)

Silva stared at Lyserg like he had just seen some sort of ghost. "Doctor is now with Reaper?" He asked in a distant tone.

"Yes, and I'm shocked to hear that Ghost was taken only moments before you arrived. According to the letter, Reaper only took Faust so that Ghost would come with him willingly. The main question I see right now is: Why does Reaper want Ghost?" Lyserg said, deep in thought.

"Honestly, I don't think that's the most important question." Hao said halfheartedly.

"What makes you think that?" Silva asked curiously.

"The way he's acted thus far. He's taken Ghost before when he was shot at Shinu church, but then he let him go. According to the letter, he wanted Ghost to go with him _willingly,_ which is obviously more trouble than simply taking him by force. Maybe Reaper has a crush on him or something. I really couldn't care less. I'm wondering what he's planning now. Leaving things as they are... don't you think that he'd find it a bit boring? I think he's going to do something soon." Hao explained.

"But that's a bit-" Lyserg began.

"I see your point. In order to catch a criminal, sometimes we have to think like them." Silva said in understanding.

"You think so? What do you propose?" Lyserg asked quickly.

"Hao, Ren, please don't take this the wrong way. As far as I've noticed, both of you are the one's with the personality closest to Reaper's. I'd like to ask both of your opinions on what you would do if you were a criminal. As for the rest of you if you have some-sort of clue to Reaper, tell only Lyserg or myself, don't trust anyone else. Though I don't like to think about it, there is always a possibility that Reaper has someone on the inside." Silva said, his tone gave everyone a feeling of unease.

'_That Silva... does he already suspect?_' Hao thought in a mix of irritation and amusement.

"Wait! You think someone among us is working with Reaper?" Lyserg exclaimed.

"It's the only explanation I can come up with. Reaper knew where Ghost lived and he knew when we were going to arrest Ghost. The only way he would've known both is if someone from within told him. Tomorrow is when Lyserg and I will tell you our plan. I recommend that everyone continue investigating on their own today or just take the day off." Silva ordered.

"Yes sir." Everyone replied.

Lyserg watched Silva in a slight disappointment. He wished that he could be as good of a detective as his father and as confident as Silva. It had taken him weeks to think up a decent plan for catching Ghost and they all ended in failure. Since Reaper had reappeared, he had no idea what to do. Silva on the other hand seemed so confident, he always seemed to have a plan, the difference in abilities between them was like black and white. Lyserg's greatest hope right now was that he could somehow think of something to help in the plan for finding the informant.

XxX

The door closed with a loud creak as Hao entered his home. He actually had two houses, one was where 'policeman Hao' lived and this one was where Reaper stayed. Lyserg and a few others had been to his other house, but Yoh and Faust were the first he brought to this house. The house in question looked like an abandoned mansion. Cobwebs decorated the corners of the ceiling and spiders which made them crawled through the vents.

A few cats chased out the mice that used to scurry throughout the house, their squeaking used to annoy him to no end. Despite the cobwebs and spiders, the house itself was fairly clean. One would know at first glance that someone lived there. The fireplace was always lit, the floors were swept and moped until they looked completely spotless, and the cat's water dish was never less than half filled.

The sound of humming alerted him to another presence nearby. He glanced at the other side of the room and smirked upon seeing Yoh, who was relaxing on the couch and appeared to be completely lost in the music of his orange headphones. The sound of Hao's faint footsteps went unheard by the younger brunette as he headed towards the couch.

Yoh let out a gasp of surprise as a sudden weight was pressed onto his stomach. He blinked, taking a moment to return to reality before he was able to register what he saw. His eyes widened as he realized that Hao was straddling his stomach, looking down at him with a pleasant smile. Yoh's first thought was to push Hao off, but he quickly discarded that idea, he didn't like recalling what happened last time he tried that.

XxX (Flashback)

Yoh stared at Faust in surprise, he hadn't expected Hao to actually bring him. Faust gave him a eerie smile before going to explore the house, leaving Yoh alone with Hao. Yoh stood there in silence for a few more moments before turning to face the older brunette. He wasn't surprised to see Hao looking at him expectantly, no doubt Hao wanted to know why he wanted Faust of all people. Hao walked a little closer, only stopping when they were standing directly in front of each other.

"Well?" Hao asked.

"Faust is the doctor who delivered me as a baby... He and Elisa also used to babysit me a lot when mom would go on her thefts. My family didn't understand how I felt after mom died, so I went to stay with him. They were really nice and they treated me like their own child. After Elisa was murdered, Faust slowly started going insane, but unlike what most people think, he never went off the edge. Faust has always been a bit different, he's not as bad once you get to know him." Yoh explained.

"I understand, it's similar with me." Hao said simply.

"Yea, I figured. That only makes me more afraid of that..." Yoh muttered, his voice could barely be considered audible.

Unfortunately for Yoh, Hao still heard. "Oh?" Hao asked as he wrapped an arm around Yoh's waist. "And what are you afraid of?"

To Hao's surprise, Yoh didn't respond, he just looked away. Hao had been expecting a hesitant or irritated retort about fearing for his life... or innocence. Was there something else Yoh was afraid of? If there was, then he wanted to know. Hao pushed up against the wall and placed his arms on the wall next to Yoh's head, trapping him within the slight cage. A flash of worry showed on Yoh's face as he hesitantly looked up at Hao.

Yoh did the first thing that came to mind, he waited until his hands had found their way to Hao's chest, then he pushed back. As Hao stumbled back from the force, Yoh took the opportunity and ran. He made it to the door of his room before someone grabbed one of his wrists and pinned him to the floor. He looked up and shivered at Hao's cold gaze. Deciding that he didn't want to piss Hao off any more than he already had, he didn't move.

"Yoh, you seem to be forgetting who your dealing with." Hao murmured as he ran his finger over Yoh's lips. "I can easily take you at any time, yet I choose not to. I've _chosen_ to wait. Although, if you try something like that again, I won't." Hao tightened his grip on Yoh's wrist until he flinched from the pain. "Remember that."

XxX (Flashback end)

Yoh sighed and looked up at Hao expectantly. "Is pinning me down one of your hobbies now?"

"No, not yet anyway." Hao replied casually.

"Would you get off?" Yoh asked hopefully.

"No." Hao replied.

"Ok then, why are you annoyed?" Yoh asked.

"Who says I'm annoyed?" Hao asked curiously.

"You. Normally you would've gotten off by now." Yoh answered.

Hao stared at Yoh blankly for a moment before giving him a small smile. "Alright, I'm annoyed at Lyserg. He's underestimating me and that pisses me off. Silva suspects that I might have someone within the police that's telling me everything, but I don't think he realizes that I'm an officer personally..." Hao paused, looking thoughtful for a moment before continuing. "You know... I just thought of something that might make my mood better, and it would involve me getting off you."

Yoh hesitated, he didn't like the amused tone of Hao's voice. "What is it?"

XxX

Lyserg: *looks around* The author's still gone.

Jun: Yes, I recall her mumbling something before leaving... But I can't quite recall what it was.

Lyserg: Was it important?

Jun: Not really.

Lyserg: Ok then...

Jun: Please review.


	13. Yoshiko

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Yoh looked at his reflection in the mirror for what seemed like the hundredth time. Briefly, he wondered how on earth he had let Hao talk him into this. He was cross-dressing yet again, but this time it was for Hao's personal amusement. Hao wanted him to play the role of his girlfriend for the day, he even picked out the clothes. Yoh wore a short, violet, strapless dress with a few black flower patterns at the end. His hair was tied back into a small bun with a black flower pin keeping it in place, and he wore a pair of violet sandal high-heels.

He sighed and put on a chain heart necklace before heading out the door. Of all things Hao wanted him to visit him at work. It was times like this that he really began to question Hao's sanity. Not that he could do much about it, all he could do at this point was act like a cute girlfriend and hope no one recognized him. The police station was already in sight, he'd be there in just a few moments. Well, since he couldn't get out of it, he figured that he might as well try to make the best of it.

XxX

Everyone looked up at Silva expectantly, today was the day that he said he would tell them all the plan. Lyserg glanced back an forth from Silva to the other officers. He knew that none of them would be all that happy with the first part of the plan. The officers seemed to sense his worry and the atmosphere reflected their own. The room was filled with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife. An effect similar to said knife happened when a cute girl burst through the station doors.

"Hao~ Where are you?" The girl asked in an overly cheerful tone.

"Yoshiko?" Hao exclaimed as he was suddenly tackled by the girl.

"Why didn't you tell me that you would be leaving early today? You didn't even give me a kiss goodbye." Yoshiko pouted.

Hao stared at her in simple surprise. '_Wow. I wasn't expecting his acting to be this good._'

"Well?" Yoshiko demanded.

"Um, Hao, who is this?" Lyserg cut in.

"This is Yoshiko Sakura, she's-" Hao began.

"I'm his girlfriend." Yoshiko stated, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Woa, dude, you never told us you had girlfriend. She's cute." Horohoro said with a slight blush.

"Tehe, thank you." Yoshiko replied.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but we're in the middle of a very important meeting right now and we can't have any more distractions." Lysergs said carefully.

"Ok." Yoshiko said as she took a seat on Hao's lap.

'_Is she playing dumb, or is she really that dense?_' Lyserg thought.

"It's ok if she hears the first part of the plan." Silva said with an understanding smile.

"Hey, Yoshiko, where do you live?"Silva asked curiously.

"I live together with Hao." Yoshiko answered.

"Then this will concern you too." Silva said.

Everyone looked at Silva questioningly, their shared confusion getting worse by the minute. Silva glanced at Lyserg, silently giving him the ok to explain.

"Those of you who stayed behind yesterday already went through this, but allow me to explain to those of you who don't know. In order to weed out the informant, we are conducting a home inspection of each of the officers house. Those who have not received the inspection yet are : Hao, Ren, and Horohoro. Silva and I will be doing each inspection together and we have to ask that all of you will stay here until suspicion of your house has been cleared." Lyserg explained.

"Lyserg, I know that it's vital to find the informant and all, but isn't asking us to stay here and wait while you search our homes a bit much? If you're going to search my home, then please, at least let Yoshiko go with you." Hao pleaded.

"But that's-" Silva began.

"Alright." Lyserg turned towards Silva. "It should be fine as long as I keep an eye on her, right?"

Silva nodded reluctantly and the three of them headed out to search the houses. Horohoro's house was first, Ren's was second, and Hao's was last. Yoshiko stayed fairly quiet as they reached Horohoro's house. It was a small blue house with a jolly atmosphere. Upon walking through the door, they were greeted by a cold rush of air and the smell of nature. A girl came out from around the corner and welcomed them to her home.

"My brother already called to tell me what's up. There's nothing to hide, so please look as you like. My name's Pirika by the way."

Silva continued to search while Lyserg and Yoshiko stayed in the kitchen with Pirika.

"Um, Pirika, has Horohoro been acting different than usual or anything?" Lyserg asked curiously.

"No. He's been talking about his crush on this Ren guy more but that's about it." Pirika replied.

"I see... Thank you for letting me know." Lysers said as Silva returned.

"Thank you for your time, miss Pirika." Silva said with a smile. "Yohshiko, Lyserg, let's go."

Once they were far enough out of sight and earshot Lyserg whispered to Silva. "Did you find out anything?"

"Only that Horohoro seems to have been stalking Ren for some time now, but nothing to show that he has any connection with Reaper." Silva muttered as they reached Ren's house.

Jun was waiting for them by the door, apparently Ren had called to let her know the situation. Lyserg left Yoshiko with Jun and headed off to go search the house with Silva this time. Jun offered some tea, but other than that they sat in a dead silence. Eventually Jun spoke up and told Yoshiko about what had happened at the mental institution to try and pass the time. After the story was over, the maddening silence returned once more.

Yoshiko could tell by the way that Jun spoke that she was trying to help catch Reaper, and she was worried, not for Reapers sake, but for Jun's. She knew that if Jun found out who Reaper was, she'd be in a lot of danger. Reaper wouldn't just let her tell everyone who he was, he'd probably make her disappear before she could even tell anyone. Yoshiko closed her eyes and listened carefully, once she was sure that Lyserg and Silva weren't withing hearing range, she spoke up.

"Jun, I want to give you some advice, but you have to promise me you won't tell anyone." Yoshiko said, making sure that her tone reflected the urgency of the matter.

"A-Alright. What is it?" Jun asked, concerned by Yoshiko's dire tone.

"Don't look into things that don't concern you. Reaper let you go once, it's not likely to happen again, he's just not that kind of person. You're a nice person, and I don't want to see anything happen to you. So, don't dig any farther into this, or you won't be able to get yourself back out." Yoshiko hissed. "_Don't let the same thing happen to you by getting too involved..._" Yoshiko whispered, her voice barely audible.

Jun wanted to ask what she had meant, but Silva and Lyserg walked into the room before she had the chance. Yoshiko gave her a friendly smile as she walked out the door, but Jun recognized that there was something hidden behind the smile. Yoshiko was definitely hiding something, but what, was the question.

XxX

Me: *Hides behind Lyserg*

Lyserg: What are you hiding from?

Me: Ren.

Lyserg: Why?

Me: Well... *Runs*

Ren: Grrr. Get back here! *chases*

Lyserg: *Looks confused*

Opacho: Please review.

Lyserg: Where did you come from?

Opacho: Opacho doesn't know... Ask author.

Lyserg: *glances at Ren, and author fleeing in fear of him* No. I think I'll just go get some popcorn.


	14. Deception

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

"Welcome to our home." Yoshiko said cheerfully as she led the two of them inside. "Follow me, I'll show you around."

Both Lyserg and Silva quietly followed behind, only stopping when they saw something to inspect. They followed Yoshiko through the hallway, past the closet and bathrooms, and to the bedroom. Lyserg had been to the house before, but this was the first time Silva had been there. Silva was a bit surprised by the size of the house, he had somewhat envisioned Hao's house to be a bit bigger. The house was smaller than Ren's but slightly bigger than Horohoro's and it had more of a homelike feeling to it.

"And this is the final room, the bedroom. There's a set of dirty magazines hidden in the fluffy chair on the right, but there might be one or two laying around that I forgot to clean up... Please take your time, if you need anything else just give me a call." Yoshiko said with a smile as she walked out of the room.

"...I can't believe she said something like that so openly." Lyserg muttered in disbelief.

"I wonder how they met..." Silva said as he flipped through one of the magazines.

The two of the looked through the room quickly, but still made sure not to miss anything. Other than the magazines, the only other things that they found in the room was Yoshiko's diary. After quickly reading through, Silva deemed it completely normal and put it back where they found it. They took another ten minutes to make sure that everything was back where it belonged before leaving the room.

"Well, if that's all then I guess I'll see you later. I'm gonna stay here and make dinner. Hao will probably be hungry by the time he gets back, he usually is... Oh, and I know this might be a bit selfish to ask... but please don't make him work too late, he stays up late enough as it is trying to do an investigation of his own." Yoshiko said with a sad smile.

"We'll try." Silva said in a reassuring tone as he and Lyserg headed out the door.

Yoshiko peeked out the window and watched the tow detectives until they had completely faded out of sight. '_They were in the room too long..._' Yoshiko thought with a frown. She headed back to the bedroom and quietly opened the door. The room looked normal enough, but she knew better than anyone that appearances could be deceiving. She quietly searched the small room until she found what she had been looking for, a small listening device.

Yoshiko sighed and headed back down to the kitchen. Hao told her that they might put a listening device in the house, he also told her what to do if she found one. It would be too suspicious to get rid of it, which meant that if she wanted to get rid of the device, she had to get rid of everything. Hao told her that if she found anything like a recorder, he wanted her to burn the entire house down.

Yoshiko sighed as she turned on the stove, she couldn't just burn the place, she needed to make it look like an accident... Hao also told her one more thing, he wanted her to make it look like she died in the accident. Yoh took off the outfit and got a spare pair if clothes from the room, humming a light tune as he picked a new pair of clothes. Once he had gotten dressed, he headed towards the hall closet.

The phrase 'appearances can be deceiving' really suited the whole situation. The closet looked completely normal, but Yoh knew better, Hao had told him exactly why it wasn't. Yoh held back his disgust as he peeled back the wall boards and a skeleton tumbled out. He didn't want to know why it was there, so he tried not to think about it. The skeleton was about his height, whoever it was was probably around the same age too...

Yoh put that thought out of mind and moved the skeleton over to the kitchen. He laid it down on the floor near the stove and wrapped the dress over it like a blanket. He placed the hairpin near the skull and placed the shoes on the skeletal feet. The fire had already started and the house was beginning to fill with smoke. Yoh slipped out the back door and ran to the other house. It was a few miles away, but he wanted to get as far away from the other house as he could. There were two gas tanks in one of the closets that would set the entire house ablaze once the fire reached them.

XxX

Hao smirked as he heard the firetrucks zoom past the station, looks like the first part of his plan went well. The only thing he had to do now was act horrified to hear the news when it came... and cry over a skeleton of someone he killed earlier. He didn't even recall the girls name, never really cared to learn it. Looking at the clock, he guessed that it would be about ten minutes before someone came in looking all frantic and told him about the fire.

"Hey, Hao. How long have you and Yoshiko been living together?" Ren asked curiously.

"About a week now, but we've been dating for a while. Lately, I've been thinking about proposing to her." Hao said thoughtfully.

Ren's eyes widened slightly. "Seriously?"

"Yea, I really like her." Hao replied with a smile.

Ren was surprised, in all the time he had been working at the station, he had never seen Hao smile like that. Normally Hao looked bored with everything, like there was nothing in this world that could gain his interest. When Ren first saw Yoshiko, he figured that they had just started going out and that Hao would probably loose interest in her soon enough. The thought of Hao proposing to someone seemed as likely as melting a glacier with one match and no fuel.

"How did you two meet?" Ren asked, his curiosity starting to grow.

"I met her at Kokoro bridge. A few months before the theft at Oni tower. I was lost in thought, wondering what to do, when she suddenly crashed into me. I had been expecting her to apologize or tell me to move it like most others do, but she just completely ignored me and continued running. Just as she got to the end of the bridge, she turned around and glanced at me, muttering a quick apology before running off." Hao laughed slightly.

"I wasn't expecting to meet her again later that day. I was sitting on a bench, contemplating whether or not to try hitting on this one really hot girl, when a voice came from behind me. It said : 'She's not worth the trouble, believe me. My ex dated her once, I never thought I'd see him cry like that, that girl is a total bitch.' When I looked up to see who was talking, I was surprised to see Yoshiko again. We ended up talking about a few random subjects and by the end of the day I asked her out."

"Ah, so that's when you two started dating?" Ren asked.

"Oh hell no, she gave me the most heart shattering rejection I had ever received." Hao said passively.

"She only agreed to go out with me after my twenty sixth attempt. After that, we became like what you saw earlier. We're total opposites, but we're great together. I think that I've finally found the one that I want to spend the rest of my life with." Hao said with a smile.

"You know, you two should come over to my house for dinner some time. Jun called after everyone left, I think she'd love to talk to Yoshiko again. They seemed to really get along." Ren mused.

"Yea, I think she'd like that." Hao replied.

"Hao! Come quick!" Lyserg exclaimed as he burst through the office doors.

"Huh? What's going on?" Hao asked, startled by the sudden outburst.

"Your house is on fire!" Lyserg yelled.

Everyone glanced at Hao, then back to Lyserg. "What?!"

XxX

Lyserg: Still fleeing from Ren?

Me: Yup

Lyserg: Why?

Me: … *disappears*

Lyserg: Ok then...

Lyserg: please review


	15. Jun

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

'_Well, looks like the fire department made it here a little late._' Hao thought as he stared at charred remains of where his house once stood. He put on a look of worry and asked the one question that he knew no one wanted to answer. "Where is Yoshiko?"

Lyserg and Silva both avoided his gaze. "I'm sorry Hao. By the time the fire department arrived, it was already too late... she's dead."

Hao expression showed nothing but pain and sorrow as he ran away from the house and everyone surrounding it. Lyserg tried to run after him, but was stopped when someone put their hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Ren standing beside him. "Leave him be. He needs some time alone right now." Ren said softly.

"H-How did the fire start?" Horohoro asked as he stared at the ashes.

"The fire department ruled it to be accidental. They said that it was most likely that Yoshiko had left some papers of some sort near the stove while it was on and left to do something else. She probably came back when the fire was already raging and tried to put it out with water, only to get hit by a blast of flames once the water made contact." Silva explained.

"If only we had brought her back with us... This wouldn't have happened." Lyserg said sadly.

"It was an accident. You guys couldn't have know this was going to happen, so stop beating yourself up over this." Anna said simply.

"...She's right, there's nothing we can do about it now. For the time being, I suggest that we do another search of all the places Reaper has been. It might give us some kind of clue about him." Silva said.

"If I remember correctly, the first place Reaper was sighted was at a place called Ume tower." Lyserg said.

"Um... Actually..." Ren mumbled.

"What is it?" Lyserg asked.

"I didn't want to tell you before... But there was one mention of Reaper before that... In surveillance tapes..." Ren said hesitantly.

"What? Where? When?" Lyserg asked quickly.

Ren sighed. "They were Reaper's first known victims."

"Who?" Lyserg demanded.

"...Your parents. When they died, the surveillance tapes in the house showed them being killed by a kid in a skull mask. That kid is the one who we now call Reaper." Ren said hesitantly.

"Reaper was the one who killed my parents?" Lyserg asked quietly.

"Yes." Ren replied.

"...I will definitely make him pay for his crimes, for the sake of my parents as well as all of his other victims." Lyserg said sadly.

"Alright then, lets go."

XxX

Jun sighed as she glanced at the clock, the constant ticking was beginning to get annoying. Every minute seemed to take hours to pass. Quickly loosing interest in the device, she headed towards the living room and turned on the tv. It was really late, far past time that Ren would usually be home, and there was nothing good on at the moment. Despite knowing that, she continued to flip through the channels until the news eventually came on.

The reporter spoke about many things which didn't interest her in the slightest. She considered changing the channel again, but then the news of Yoshiko's death came up. She gasped as the news lady informed that Yoshiko had died in an accidental fire. '_An accident?_' Jun thought doubtfully. Normally she, just like everyone else, would have believed it, but something about Yoshiko's earlier warning filled her with unease.

'_No... It can't be..._' Jun quickly turned off the tv and ran out the door. It had to be some sort of mistake, but he was the only one who she could think of. Completely ignoring the traffic around her, she ran toward the station as fast as she could. Luckily, it had been left unlocked, so she was able to get in without any problems. If she checked the records, then she's know for sure, but she hoped that she was wrong.

One of the desks seemed to beckon her closer. There wasn't anything particularly attractive about the desk, it was as plain and dusty as the others around it. The reason why it seemed to call her was because of who it belonged to. The person who she questioned, the one who seemed to be completely innocent. Only the documents within the desk would tell her for certain. As she carefully read through each of the papers, her suspicions grew even greater. Eventually she found the one document that proved her suspicions to be true.

"As I thought, this means-" Jun whispered as she stared at the paper.

"Hello Jun-chan. What are you doing in the station so late?" Hao asked in a polite tone.

"H-Hao!" Jun gasped, stumbling back slightly.

"Oh. Your scared? Why? Don't tell me you've already figured out my little secret." Hao asked in amusement.

"It's _supposed_ to be a surprise for later. This definitely puts a dent in my plans... Oh, what should I do?" Hao said in a tone of mock concern.

"Then... You really are Reaper?" Jun asked in horror.

Hao parted his cloak so that Jun could see, from his collarbone to his navel was a long cut scar, the same scar she saw only a few days ago.

"You wouldn't be here if I wasn't, now would you?" Hao said with a knowing smirk.

Jun took a few steps back and glanced warily at Hao, it was obvious by the way he spoke that he had no intentions of letting her leave.

"As of right now, you have two options, Jun-chan. You can stay with Yoh, Faust, and I until I decide you can go... Or I could kill you here and make it look like another unfortunate accident. Which would you like?" Hao asked casually.

Jun's eyes desperately scanned the room for something she could use to escape. She temporarily stopped to glance at the clock, if she could somehow manage to stall him until the others came back, then she would be fine. Her hope was shattered when she looked back and saw Hao roll his eyes, like he knew what she was thinking. He paused for a moment, looking thoughtful, before he smiled and held up three fingers.

"If you're thinking about stalling for time, don't bother. If you don't decide in three minutes, you're dead." Hao said simply.

"...Fine. I'll go with you." Jun said with a sigh of defeat.

"Wise choice."

XxX

Lyserg: Is this why you've been running away from Ren?

Me: Yea.

Lyserg: What now?

Me: I start working on the next chapter... Or leave and try updating one of my other stories... Whichever comes first.

Lyserg: Alright then.

Me: Please review


	16. Confusion

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Jun held onto Hao's hand as tightly as she could, she didn't like being led someplace she didn't know... and the blindfold wasn't helping. To make matters worse, Hao was humming this very creepy tune. Normally she would've been scared that something would jump out and attack her, that is, if she wasn't holding hands with a psychopath. The only signal she had to ease her fear was when she heard the creaking of wooden floorboards.

"You can take off the blindfold now." Hao said as he walked off to some random room of the house.

Jun slowly reached up and began tugging at the folds of the knot, it was much tighter than she expected. She continued struggling with the knot for another fifteen minutes before she finally gave up. Though she couldn't see at the moment, her hearing was still fairly good, and she focused on the sounds around her, she identified three main noises. The first was a cat's meow, the second was the creaking floorboards, and the last was...

"He tied the knot too tight, didn't he? Sigh... Here, let me help you." Came a slightly familiar voice.

Jun remained still as two hands worked carefully at untying the knot. It took a fair bit of time, but eventually the knot came undone and her blindfold was taken off. When Jun first opened her eyes, she thought she was staring at a nicer, more innocent version of Hao. Only after looking a little closer did she realize that the one who she was staring at was Ghost. She probably wouldn't have known it was him if she hadn't met him at he mental institution that one time.

"I wish you would have taken my advice. Now you've gone and dug yourself into a hole you can't get out of." Yoh sighed.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Jun asked doubtfully.

Yoh pulled his hair back into a bun and gave her a weak smile.

"Yoshiko? You were Yoshiko?" Jun asked, surprised.

"Yea... I'm never letting Hao talk me into cross-dressing again..." Yoh mumbled.

"I thought you died in the fire." Jun said questioningly.

"No. What everyone thought was me was the skeleton of someone he killed earlier." Yoh replied.

"Why does Hao want you here?" Jun asked as she followed Yoh to the living room.

"He likes me. At first it was just a mild interest... but now it's more than that. I'm scared that someday he might either take me by force... or actually get me to feel the same way about him... That just can't happen..." Yoh whispered.

"I know he's a psychopath and a murderer and all, but you don't seem like the type who would really care about what a person is." Jun said hesitantly.

Yoh avoided his gaze. "I don't... normally... but this time is different."

"Why? What makes him so different?" Jun asked.

"...He's my brother." Yoh said quietly.

"What?" Jun gasped.

"My older twin brother... To be exact. I don't think he knows that yet though. Faust told me about him when I was six. A few months ago, I finally learned who he was. Not Reaper... but a policeman. I didn't realize who he was when I saved him on Kokoro bridge... But I realized shortly after I pulled him back up. I had hoped to have a normal brotherly relationship with him after he quit being an officer, but things didn't exactly go as I had hoped. It turned out that Hao was Reaper, not only that, but he was also interested in me... I don't want him to know... I think that it would only make things worse." Yoh whispered.

Jun stared at Yoh in an awkward silence for a while. '_...How would telling him make things worse? Wouldn't he give up then?_' Jun thought. She had been horrified at first when she was told she'd be staying in the same house as three criminals, but now she was starting to doubt if things were really all that they seemed. Hao still seemed frightening, but she wondered about Yoh and Faust. She had been scared when Yoh came to visit Faust just because she knew he was a criminal.

As she looked at Yoh now, he hardly seemed like the kind of person someone would fear. Yoh seemed like the kind of person who would be willing to risk his life to save someone else. The thing that she wondered most about him now was why he became a thief. The fact that all of his thefts were connected to the Pache tribe most likely had something to do with it, but she figured that it'd be better not to ask.

"You can call Ren if you want... Hao said it's fine as long as you don't mention him or give any hints." Yoh said as he put his orange headphones back on. Yoh pointed towards the phone in the kitchen before going up to his room.

XxX (later that day)

*ring ring* *ring rii-*

"Hello? Who is this?" Ren asked.

-It's me. Where are you right now?-

"Jun? I'm at Lyserg's old house, along with the others. We're hoping to find a lead on Reaper." Ren explained.

-So the others are with you too? Horohoro, Silva, Ryu, Joco, Lyserg and Hao?-

"Yea. They're all here. Hao's still depressed about Yoshiko and Lyserg still blames himself for what happened, but they're both here." Ren replied.

-Can you put me on speaker phone? I have something I need to tell everyone.-

"Sure." Ren called everyone everyone over and waited until they were all there before switching on speakerphone.

-Can you all hear me well enough?-

"Yes, we hear you. What is it?" Silva asked.

-It's about Reaper... I know who he is.-

"What? Who?" Lysergs exclaimed.

-I'm sorry, I can't say. He said I could call you guys as long as I didn't say anything that would give him away. Right now I'm stuck at his place along with Faust and Yoh. I'll tell you what I can... But I'm not sure I'll be of much help. One thing I can tell you... Is that all of you have met him before and you see him a lot. Another thing I can tell you is something that he himself doesn't know.-

"Something Reaper doesn't know?" Hao asked doubtfully.

-Yes. Reaper and Ghost are connected... In a way. Ghost told me that earlier today... But I'm afraid that's all I can say... I might've said too much already.-

*click* Everyone stared at the phone in shock, especially Hao. '_Yoh and I are connected? What does that mean?... I guess I'll have to ask him about that._'

XxX

Hao quietly entered his home and gave a quick glance around. He could see Faust working in the kitchen and Jun sitting in the living room with a book in hand, but Yoh was nowhere in sight. As he walked down the dark, humid halls, he heard the faint sound of humming. The sound wasn't that far off and he recognized the tone. He paused as the entrance to Yoh's bedroom door before slowly pushing the door open. Yoh's room was a bit warmer than the rest of the house, most likely because he left his window closed for whatever reason. He put on a friendly smile as he walked further into Yoh's room.

"H-Hao. You're back early." Yoh said quickly.

"Silva wanted to check up on something with Lyserg and he said that the rest of us could go." Hao said simply.

Hao reached back and closed the door behind him, waiting until the click of the lock sounded through the room before walking over to Yoh. "Jun said something rather interesting earlier today. She said that you told her we're connected. What does that mean?" Hao asked.

"N-Nothing. Er... I think Faust is calling..." Yoh said quietly.

Yoh glanced warily at Hao and then towards the window. The red curtains were drawn and the window itself was closed. The room they were in was two stories up, but it's not like he hadn't jumped from higher. Hao seemed to notice what he was thinking though, and he smirked. Yoh hadn't made it more than a few steps before Hao caught hold of his hand and dragged him over to the bed.

Yoh was roughly thrown face first onto the mattress. The pillows cushioned his landing, but he didn't have much time actually process that thought as he felt Hao crawl over him. Hao straddled his lower back and slowly reached for his wrists, pinning them above his head with ease. Yoh wished that he could just push Hao off and run for the nearest exit, but in terms of positions, Hao was clearly at the advantage.

"If you don't want to tell me... That's just fine. I guess that means that I'll have to force it out."

XxX

Lyserg: Why are you so interested in this story as of late?

Me: A random interest.

Lyserg: Huh?

Me: Sometimes I get a random interest in one of my stories and I become completely obsessed with it. During this time I tend to write more for said story.

Lyserg: Oh.

Yoh: Forget about that for a minute and help me!

Me: No. I'm gonna have some fun with this next chapter. *laughs evilly*

Yoh: T.T

Lyserg: Please review.


	17. It'll be fun

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

Yoh flinched at Hao's amused tone. He couldn't be serious, right? His thought was quickly answered when Hao bit down lightly on his neck and started to suck on the patch of skin. '_I can't tell, I won't._' Yoh thought, shuddering as Hao stopped to lick the side of his ear. Hao pulled away slightly and flipped Yoh over so that they were now facing each other. Yoh's wrist's were still being held by one of Hao's hands, but the way Hao smiled at him told him that even with the use of his hands, he still wouldn't be able to get Hao off him.

Using his free hand, Hao carefully undid the buttons on Yoh's shirt and pulled back the fabric. Hao eyed Yoh's physique briefly before running a finger down his chest, smirking a the light shudder Yoh tried to control. Slowly, Yoh began to feel the slightest bit of arousal as Hao stared nipping and kissing the base of his chest down to his waist. '_This can't be happening._' Yoh thought. He only returned to reality when felt Hao's hand going a bit lower.

Panic began to fill him as he remembered his situation. "S-Stop..." Yoh looked up at Hao, his eyes widened as he realized Hao had no intention of listening. "Wait..." Still no response. Hao's hand continued going lower until it eventually stopped on button of Yoh's jeans. "You can't... W-We're brothers!" Hao stopped what he was doing and looked up at Yoh questioningly.

"What?" Hao asked.

"We're brother's... Twins. If you don't believe me, ask Faust." Yoh said quickly.

"...No need." Hao let go of Yoh's wrists and slowly got off of him, allowing Yoh to finally get back to his feet.

"However..." Yoh gasped as Hao swiftly wrapped his arms around his waist, pulling him close so that their noses were centimeters apart. "Those kind of things means little to me. If you think that something like that will stop me, then you're wrong." Hao whispered as he closed the gap between them.

Hao pressed his lips firmly onto Yoh's for a passionate kiss. The action surprised the younger brunette and he just stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do. Hao quickly took advantage of Yoh's shock and slipped his tongue in between the others lips. For a few sweet moments Yoh was too stunned to move and Hao was able to do as he wished. Yoh's senses returned to him as Hao began mapping out the caverns of his mouth. His first thought was to pull away, but for some reason, he hesitated. Hao's tongue brushed against Yoh's as he tried coaxing him to play along. Unfortunately, air was still necessary and he had to break the kiss after a minute. Yoh blushed as he tried to regain his breath, Hao on the other hand simply stared at him with an amused expression.

"I think you get my point. Oh, I almost forgot. Who's younger?" Hao asked with a thoughtful expression.

"Me. You're older by about a minute." Yoh gasped.

"I see. Come on, we're going downstairs Otouto." Hao said as he unlocked the bedroom door.

"Why?" Yoh asked worriedly.

"So that I can tell you and Faust what I have planned. Don't worry, It'll be fun."

'_Why do I not believe that?_'

XxX (the next day)

Everyone whispered quietly amongst each other. Silva had just informed them all of the plan to catch Reaper, but some of them were a bit doubtful on the effectiveness of the plan. Ren in particular was a bit skeptical of the idea. The plan was basically to lure Reaper into a trap and then corner him. He wasn't dense, he knew that there was more to it than that, but it irritated him that Silva and Lyserg were keeping something from him.

"Look, I think the plan sounds great and all, but how are we going to find Reaper in the first place?" Ren asked skeptically.

"Um, I can help with that." Came a slightly familiar voice.

Everyone turned to see who had spoken and their jaws dropped upon seeing an all to familiar thief. "Yo." He greeted.

"Ghost? What... Why are you here?" Lyserg asked.

"Reaper sent me... And please call me Yoh." Yoh said simply.

"Why did Reaper send you?" Lyserg asked quickly, before anyone else had the chance to react.

"A game. There are three choices of games which you can choose. Once you've chosen, I'll explain the rules. The games are: Hide and seek, Dead man, or Sleeping tigers. You can't change your mind once you've chosen." Yoh replied.

"And what if we don't want to play?" Ren challenged.

"He said that if you don't, he'll kill Jun and cause another scene somewhere else in town. You have ten minutes to decide, I can explain the normal rules of the games before you choose, if necessary." Yoh said solemnly.

"I don't think that will be necessary, but can you tell up the chances of the game?" Silva asked.

"Chances?" Yoh said questioningly.

"In your opinion, what are our chances for survival, winning the game, civilians getting involved, and meeting Reaper?" Silva asked.

Yoh paused for a moment to think about that. Hao said that he couldn't tell them the specifics of the game before they chose, but he didn't say anything about giving his opinion on their chances. Hao had set up the games so that they would all be difficult, in their own way. Depending on who was playing, the chances could change. In took him a few minutes before he was able to calculate their 'chances'.

"In Hide and seek your chances are: survival 50%, winning the game 32%, civilians getting involved 87%, and meeting Reaper 25%. Chances in Sleeping Tigers are: survival 68%, winning the game 46%, civilians getting involved 62%, and meeting Reaper 12%. Chances in Dead Man are: survival 4%, winning the game 82%, civilians getting involved 6%, and meeting Reaper 97%." Yoh said slowly.

"So our survival level goes down with a higher possibility of meeting Reaper..." Horohoro mumbled.

"Dead Man has the highest possibility of finding Reaper and the highest possibility of keeping civilians out of this... But it also has the lowest chances of surviving the game." Silva mused.

Everyone gave a quick glance at each other before nodding in union. "We choose Dead Man."

XxX

**...Rules for Reaper's Dead Man... **In Reaper's Dead Man the 'Dead Man' Is Reaper...

The objective of the game is to capture Reaper without getting caught by him or surviving until sunrise.

If the officers win, the prize is discovering Reaper's identity... If Reaper wins, no one will survive.

The game shall begin when the officers reach the forest and call the following verse:

"_**Dead-Man, Dead-Man, come alive, at the count of number five. One, two, three, four, five... Come alive!**_"

**How to play Dead Man:**

One player must be the 'dead man' and said player must then be blindfolded or have their eyes closed for the duration of the game. The other players gather around the player and say the chant to start the game. The dead man's goal is to tag another player so that they will be the next 'dead man' and the players goal is to not get tagged. In another version, once someone is tagged they join the 'dead man' and try to tag the other players, the game is over when there are no more players. There are a few different versions of the game but all require one 'dead man' and a few other players.

Number of officers: 35

Time until sunrise: 10 hours

Time till game begins: 2 hours

XxX

Hao: *mumbles darkly about rating*

Yoh: It's ok, Nii-san. *hugs Hao*

Hao: *tackles Yoh *

Yoh: *blushes*

Me: Please review

Hao and Yoh: … '_How long was she there?_'


	18. Blindfold

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX (two hours later)

"Do we really have to say it?" Horohoro mumbled as they reached the clearing.

"Yes." Yoh said, for what seemed like the hundredth time. Yoh wasn't normally the type to get annoyed easily, but even he would get irritated when stuck in a situation he didn't want to be in... Add being asked the same question over and over again, and you get a very irritable thief. Luckily, Horohoro seemed to finally get the message.

"_**Dead-Man, Dead-Man, come alive, at the count of number five. One, two, three, four, five... Come alive!**_" Everyone recited.

Once the chant was over, everyone split into groups and went to search for Reaper. Yoh, on the other hand, sat down and waited. He tilted his head up and gazed at the stars overhead, this was one of the few places in the forest where the stars were actually visible. The cool wind brushed against him, playing with his hair for a moment before switching back into a gentle breeze. The leaves of a nearby bush rustled and as another figure entered the clearing.

"I'm surprised they all actually said it." Reaper chuckled as he came out from behind a nearby tree.

"Why do you want me here, _Reaper_? I don't think that people deserve to die meaningless deaths and your needless killing is doing just that. What you're doing goes completely against what I believe. Why did you tell me to stay?" Yoh demanded.

Hao reached out and gently took a bit of Yoh's hair, twirling it around his fingers with light interest. "So that I won't get bored." Hao replied. He gazed up at the stars for a moment before closing his eyes in a thoughtful expression. "Lyserg, Ren, Horohoro, Ryu, Joco, Anna, and Silva I will allow to live. I want them to win this game. It won't take long to get rid of the others, and after I'm done with that, I'll have nothing to do for the rest of the night. I want you to be here so that I won't get bored."

"But H-" Yoh was suddenly cut off as Hao pressed their lips together. It was a surprisingly chaste kiss and it didn't last more than a few seconds, but it surprised Yoh, to say the least. When Hao pulled away, he wore his usual smirk and pressed a finger to his lips as a silent sign to be quiet. '_Oh... So someone else is here..._' Yoh thought. Hao waited until the other presence had vanished before continuing.

"I also would like your assistance in something." Reaper said as he held out a black piece of cloth.

"A blindfold?" Yoh asked.

"Yes. I have to follow the rules of Dead man too. The rules also state that the 'dead man' must be blindfolded. Be sure to tie it tight." Reaper replied as he took off his mask. Yoh looked up at him questioningly but took the blindfold regardless. It only took him a moment to tie it on and once he was done, Reaper went back into the forest to start the game.

XxX (four hours later) (number of officers : 7)

Horohoro ran back the view point as fast as he could. He needed to tell everyone what he had heard... and saw. He had intended to do so sooner, but he ended up getting lost in the forest. Lyserg and the others had to know about Reapers intentions, maybe they could make sense of all this. He considered himself lucky that Lyserg had thought ahead and thought of a point where they all could meet. As he ran past a particularly large tree, he crashed right into something, or to be more specific, someone.

"What the... Who is it?" Hao asked in slight confusion.

"Hao? What are you doing here?" Horohoro asked, surprised.

"I don't know. I don't even know where here is." Hao replied, tugging on his blindfold a bit to prove his point.

"Uh... We'll talk about this in a moment, for now, just follow me." Horohoro said as he quickly grabbed Hao's hand.

Hao followed behind without saying a word while Horohoro tried to sort out his highly confused thoughts. Horohoro had no idea why Hao was here, and the blindfold only worsened his confusion. '_Who put that blindfold on him?_' Horohoro thought as they came nearer to the view point. He couldn't really imagine anyone catching him off guard long enough to put a blindfold on him. Then again, Hao was only human. Even he probably had his off moments.

Horohoro let out a sigh of relief as he finally reached the viewpoint. Keeping a firm hold on Hao's hand, he walked over the where everyone was, he didn't want Hao accidentally running into something. Everyone was already there and waiting for him, Anna looked a bit peeved that he took so long though. Other than Anna, everyone looked relieved that he actually made it. In this kind of 'game' you never know whether or not you'll survive.

"Horohoro, I'm glad to see you made it... Hao? What are you doing here?" Lyserg asked.

"I don't know. Like I told Horohoro, I don't even know where _here_ is." Hao sighed.

"We can talk about that in a minute, I have something I need to tell you all." Horohoro said quickly.

"What is it?" Silva asked.

"I overheard Reaper talking to Ghost... He said that he's going to kill everyone else, but let us live. He said that he _wants_ us to win this game. Ghost seemed like he was about to say something after that, but Reaper cut him off with a kiss before he could say it." Horohoro said hesitantly.

"Reaper intends to _let_ us win?" Lyserg said questioningly.

"That's what he said." Horohoro replied.

"Hm. Unfortunately, we're all that's left. Reaper already killed everyone else. Including you and Hao, there are eight of us... Everyone included in the names Reaper mentioned." Silva muttered.

"But what about Hao? His name wasn't on the list." Horohoro snapped.

"It might be because have no idea why I'm here. Reaper may not even consider me a player in this game." Hao said passively, before heading to the other end of the clearing.

"Maybe..." Silva replied.

Lyserg looked up at Silva with slight worry. He knew that look, he had seen it when Silva was questioning a witness once when he was younger. "_What are you thinking?_" Lyserg whispered.

Silva stared at Hao for a few moments, deep in thought, before returning his attention to Lyserg. "_I think Hao is the informant. His sudden reappearance along with the blindfold have me suspicious. I'm also wondering if he told Reaper about Jun. Right now, I'm just questioning his motives for being here._"

Hao smiled to himself as he listened to the detective's conversation from his place on a patch of grass. Silva was a better detective than he had thought, Lyserg was a complete rookie compared to him. He sighed, but neither on of them were as good as Liam. Hao chuckled lightly as he recalled the memory. Back then he hadn't killed anyone yet, he was only nine after all. At that time, he was a bit of a thief who stole to survive and Liam caught him after his third theft.

Lyserg was at a boarding school at the time, so they had never met. After Liam caught him, he took him in for a while, taught him how to live on his own. Liam's wife, Jane, would let him into the library whenever he liked. It wasn't a bad life, Liam even spoke of adopting him once or twice. One of the main reasons Reaper hadn't been caught yet is because of what he learned from Liam back then. He had hoped to stay there... Until he overheard the two of them talking one day.

Hao frowned slightly as he recalled what happened. He had been heading to the kitchen to get a light snack, like he usually did around that hour, when he heard Liam talking to Jane. Liam spoke of a thief who died three years ago by the name of Keiko. He told his wife that the reason why he took Hao in was because he thought Keiko and Hao were somehow related and taking care of him was his way of apologizing for her death.

Hao was devastated when he heard, but he didn't blame Liam for Keiko's death after hearing how greatly he regretted it. He had been about to walk in and tell Liam that, but then Jane said something unexpected. "I worry about Hao though, something's not right about him." He froze when he heard that, he wanted to run into the room and tell her she was wrong, but he waited.

"I understand how you feel. I didn't want to say this before, but his personality is similar to a sociopath I once helped capture. At this rate I may have to get him some mental help, if I don't, he might end up turning into one of the scariest criminals I've ever met. All he needs is some sort of trigger, it could be just about anything." Liam had told her. Liam didn't realize that it was that little conversation which was the exact trigger he feared. The day Hao heard that, something changed, and that very day was also the day that Reaper came into existence. Looking back on it, he supposed that he should thank Liam. If it wasn't for Liam's distrust, he wouldn't be who he was today.

XxX

Me: Thanks for reading, Please review.


	19. Revealed

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

"Hey, Hao. Why do you look so amused?" Ren asked as he took a seat next to Hao.

"I was thinking about something that happened before. Something I heard Lyserg and Silva whispering about reminded me of it." Hao replied.

"What did they say?" Ren asked curiously.

"They think I'm Reaper's informant." Hao said simply.

"What?" Ren glanced around before staring at Hao in disbelief. "Are you?"

"Yes and no. You understand later. Oh, and Jun is fine, she's back at your house waiting for you." Hao replied.

Ren continued staring at Hao in silence, unsure of what to say. Could he be joking? No. Hao wasn't the type to play jokes like that, unless it was a dare or something... That meant he was serious? It didn't make any sense for Hao to tell him if that were true. '_Just what is going on in his head?_' Ren thought.

XxX (three and a half hours later)

Hao frowned slightly as he heard everyone whispering around him. Just because he was wearing a blindfold didn't mean that he was suddenly def. Maybe telling Ren wasn't such a good idea. Oh well. The game would be over soon anyway. The air was getting warmer, he figured that there was about a half hour at most before the sun rose. By the whispers of the others around him, he could guess that they already had a trap ready for Reaper, not that it'd matter.

Yoh would be coming a little early to see how many officers were left and for the count down until the sun rose. In fact, he could hear Yoh entering the clearing now. Everyone else was whispering about why he would be early. Silva and Lyserg were the only ones who's voices he couldn't hear. He wondered if they were surprised, expecting it, or maybe they just didn't care, although the last one wasn't likely.

"Ten minutes until the sun rises. I'll be here until that time if it's not a problem." Yoh said calmly.

"Do you mind if we talk while we wait?" Silva asked.

"I don't mind, but I won't be able to answer any questions regarding Reaper." Yoh replied.

"I know. My questions aren't about Reaper... they're about Hao." Silva said simply.

Hao was slightly surprised by that comment, but an amused smirk quickly took over the look of confusion. '_What does Silva have in mind?_' Hao thought curiously.

"I'm just checking to confirm my suspicions. Is Hao an associate of Reaper?" Silva asked.

"Yes, he is, in a way." Yoh replied, making sure to chose his words carefully.

"Is Hao playing this game?" Silva questioned.

"Yes." Yoh paused and looked towards the horizon, where the sun could be seen rising over the trees. The sky was painted a burning red with the cover of night fading into the light.

"The game is over. Congratulations, you win." Yoh called.

Most everyone let out a sigh of relief, none of them liked to admit it, but they didn't think that they would actually survive the game.

"Good, we won. Now, who is Reaper?" Lyserg demanded.

"That..." Hao said as he tore off the blindfold, "Would be me."

Hao walked over to Yoh and took his mask back, holding it up for everyone to see. Silva looked at Lyserg, who was frozen in shock, before looking back up at Hao, who looked quite amused at everyone's reactions. Yoh looked a little nervous standing next to Hao and, in Silva's opinion, he really looked like he wanted to leave. The more Silva stared at the two of them, the more uncanny their resemblance seemed until eventually, he understood.

"I thought as much. The relation between you two... You're twins, right?" Silva asked.

"That's right. I only found out about it yesterday though... and I don't really have feelings for him as a... _brother_." Hao said thoughtfully.

"...We'll question you back at the office. For now... Both you and Yoh are under arrest!" Silva said, before firing a warning shot between them.

Yoh's eyes widened in fear, he remembered what happened the last time he had heard that sound, he almost died. The memories of the pain in his chest, the warm and wet feel of blood, the sky fading into black as he fell of the church building, all came rushing back to him. He began to shiver, his breaths came faster as tried to keep himself calm. Hao quickly noticed Yoh's behavior and caught him in a soft embrace. He did something somewhat unexpected, he began whispering softly in an attempt to calm and soothe his brother.

Eventually Yoh calmed down somewhat and clutched onto Hao's shirt for comfort. Hao smiled and held Yoh closer before turning to glare at the officers. His rage filled the air, drowning everyone in a wave of murderous intent. His expression darkened as he glanced back at Silva. If looks could kill, the detective would be long dead. In fact, If Yoh wasn't holding onto him right now, Hao probably _would_ have killed Silva.

"I really could care less if you want to arrest me. However, If you try and touch my Otouto, I'll gladly show you what real hell is like." Hao said coolly.

"I thought you said you don't fave feeling for him as a brother." Ren said.

Hao smirked. "I don't."

Hao's smirk widened as the officers glanced at one another in confusion. They certainly looked at a loss, it would be rude not to enlighten them. He gently pushed Yoh back, just enough that they were facing each other. Yoh's tear stained face glanced up at him with worry, looks like he guessed what was about to happen, good. Hao wasted no time at all in pressing their lips together, he knew that the kiss wouldn't last long, but he intended to enjoy it while it did.

From the corner of his eye, he watched as an expression of horror and disgust washed over everyone's faces. He'd be lying if he said that he expected anything different. Yoh's grip on his shirt tightened, silently begging him to stop, and for once, Hao listened. He broke the kiss much quicker than he would've liked, but he intended to make it longer next time. For the time being, he pulled Yoh close again and returned his attention to the gaping officers.

"Wha?... b-but that's incest! It's a crime!" Lyserg exclaimed.

"And you think I care, why?" Hao drawled.

Silva glanced towards Horohoro and gave him a the signal. As Silva did his best to hide Horohoro from view, Horohoro cautiously made his way over to a particular tree. Once he was close enough, he used his pocket knife to cut the rope around it. Hao's eyes widened as the floor underneath him suddenly came up, trapping both him and Yoh in a large net. "A net? Seriously? How less original can you get?" Hao asked.

"It doesn't matter. It worked, didn't it?" Silva replied.

"Maybe, maybe not. It's your choice really. I had expected you to catch me somehow and I already made preparations for such an occasion." Hao said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Silva asked.

"Seven people are here, correct? There's a reason for that. Seven buildings in this city are rigged to blow up in exactly eight minutes, each of them have a connection to one of you. It takes five minutes to get to each building and they'll all blow up simultaneously. Each of you would be able to figure out the password to stop the explosion in a matter of seconds if you saw it. So, basically, what I'm asking is... Which would you rather do? Arrest the two of us? Or stop seven explosions that could wipe out over half the city? It's entirely your choice, officers. You have seven minutes to decide."

XxX

Me: please review.


	20. Okaeri

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

The anger which flared in each officers eyes served no more than a slight amusement to Hao. The game really was a good idea in his opinion, whether he ended up getting caught or not. The slightest twinge of guilt only came when he saw the fear and worry in his brothers eyes. He would have to remember not to push Yoh too far later. Guilt wasn't that common to him, but it seemed to appear a lot more often since Yoh came around.

"Fine." Lyserg growled. "We'll be back for you two later. Everyone, let's go!"

Hao gave a friendly wave goodbye as the officers faded out of sight. He was surprised that they believed his little story so easily. They hadn't even asked which buildings were supposed to blow up. Lyserg was definitely too naïve to be the head detective. If anything, Lyserg should have brought the two of them along, or left them guarded, anything but leave them hanging in some flimsy net. Yoh was a well known thief and both of them had managed to escape dire situations before, something like this wouldn't keep them for long.

"So, how long do you think it will take them to figure out there's no bomb?" Hao asked curiously.

"...There's no bomb?" Yoh asked in disbelief.

"Nope. I did set one of the buildings on fire, but that's it." Hao replied.

"So... you made that whole thing up on the spot?" Yoh asked.

"That's right. However, I did have a back up plan if that didn't work." Hao said as he pulled a knife from his pocket and started cutting the net.

"Do I want to know?" Yoh asked hesitantly.

Hao waited until a decent sized hole had been made in the rope before choosing to respond. "Probably not."

After getting out of the net, Hao started walking back towards the city with Yoh following close behind. By tomorrow morning, the media would have the whole city knowing knowing who Reaper and Ghost were. Give that a week and the news would most likely spread throughout the state. The only reason no one except the police and those close to them knew what Ghost looked like yet, was because Lyserg hadn't thought of a way how to explain to the reporters that Hao and Ghost looked near identical.

Hao had already made plans for once they got caught, getting chased by the cops in this city was getting boring anyway. Today, they were going to get some shopping done. He'd let Yoh visit anywhere he'd like in the city while they were out before returning to the house to get packed. Faust already knew the plan, he had told him about it earlier. Telling Yoh would probably be the hardest part about it. He wondered how his brother would react.

XxX

Yoh sent a confused glance at Hao before looking back towards the cashier. Both of them were conversing like old friends despite the fact that they had only met just moments ago. He hadn't really thought about this before, but it didn't really seem like Hao personally had any enemies. He wondered how it was that Hao could kill 28 people without a shred of remorse and then casually converse with a store clerk only four hours later.

Yoh waited another ten minutes before the conversation was finally over and Hao had pulled him out of the store. So far, all they had done was go shopping and chat random strangers. He couldn't tell what Hao was planning yet, but it seemed like he had something in mind. The things Hao had gotten at the store weren't that strange, but his conversations with people were what made Yoh wonder. Hao had never seemed interested in other places before, yet now he was suddenly curious to know what other areas were like.

"Yoh, Is there some place you'd like to go?" Hao asked suddenly.

"Huh?" Yoh replied.

"If you weren't going to come back for a while... Would there be some place you'd like to go before you left?" Hao asked.

"Yea. I'll show you." Yoh said.

Yoh did a quick look around to see where they were before taking a sudden right turn. Now he could pretty much guess what Hao had in mind, and he wasn't too surprised. Honestly, he had expected that they were going to leave soon. He was thankful that Hao asked him if there was some place he'd like to go though, he had been wanting to show Hao the place for a while.

Despite Yoh's quickened pace, Hao kept up pretty well, he always stayed just within arms reach of him. The familiar surroundings told him that he was close, so he slowed down into a walk once more. Hao almost ran into him after slowing down, but managed to stop before they ran into one another. Yoh didn't even seem to notice, however, and he simply continued walking.

A faded black mailbox with a post shaped like a small sakura tree was the first thing they saw before a large gate. The gate looked old and rusty with vines grown along the bars. At the center of the gate was a large padlock, one of the few things that still looked intact. Yoh reached under the mailbox and pulled out a key before heading over to the gate. The padlock opened and the chains fell to the ground, some of them chipped from the impact.

Nostalgia brought a smile to Yoh's face as he touched the cool metal bars of the gate. After a moment, he pushed the gate open a bit and walked inside, motioning for Hao to follow. There was a small sidewalk half buried in moss which led into a large garden. Weeds appeared to have taken over what once could have been a beautiful garden. A few rose bushes and sakura trees led to the front entrance of a moss covered traditional Japanese-style house.

"This is your home, isn't it?" Hao asked quietly.

"Yes, It's also where we both were born." Yoh replied as he slid open the door.

Hao's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

"Mom didn't want to go to a hospital to give birth, so she called Faust over to deliver us here. We were born at the entrance to the garden... Shortly after you were born, you were given up for adoption. Our grandparents believed that twins were bad luck... They believed the stupid legend that the older twin is born possessed by a demon. So they told Faust to make you disappear. Mom couldn't say a word against them, or they might've killed you. After she became a thief, she started searching for you. She heard a rumor that you were a few cities away and so she left to go get you. She decided to go on one last theft before she left so that she would have an excuse to give her parents to leave... That was the last theft she ever did. Before she fell, she told the detective about you. Her last request was that he take you in." Yoh explained.

"How do you know all of that?" Hao asked.

"Because, she was still alive when I found her. After I somehow managed to get her out of the river, I ran to get Faust. Unfortunately, it was too late to save her, but she told him about what happened before she died. He told me what she said when he thought I was old enough to understand." Yoh replied as he came to a stop at an entryway.

"I haven't come back since everyone was killed by Marco. They weren't at home at the time, but at our dad's old house. However, I was scared to come back. I decided that if I ever was going to go back home, I wanted to come back with you. So... Okaeri, Nii-san." Yoh said with a smile.

Hao didn't fully understand why Yoh wanted to bring him back to this house, but at the same time he was glad that Yoh did. Ever since he had killed Liam, he hated recalling things about his childhood. Perhaps, there was just one thing about that childhood that he'd like to remember. Being born here with Yoh didn't sound like a memory that he'd hate. More like, it was something he wished to remember. But remembering things from when you were a baby isn't easy, so for now...

"Tadaima."

XxX

**Me:** Gomenasai minna. I've been really busy with my classes and I'm reaching the deadline for my finals. I'll try to update more often after they're finished. Till then, see ya.


	21. Flight 13

Disclaimer: I do not own Shaman king.

'_thoughts_'

"Speech"

-Phone conversation-

XxX

"This is where I spent most of my time." Yoh said as he pointed towards an unusually large sakura tree. "I would sleep on one of the branches for most of the day. Hehe. No one ever found me because all the thorn bushes and pine trees hide this small area from view. It's difficult to find if you don't already know where it is."

"I can imagine." Hao said simply. "This place is a lot bigger than than it looks, isn't it?"

"Yup, and there's one last place I want to show you before we go." Yoh said before running back to the house.

Hao stared at the big sakura tree for another moment before running back to the house after Yoh. Thanks to Yoh's tour of the place, he had memorized where everything was. Even if he lost sight of Yoh, he still had a pretty good idea of where his twin was going. There was only one place left that he hadn't been to yet and it was in the front yard near a small shrine. When he got there, he found Yoh standing by a small monument and placing a flower next to it.

"Is that her grave?" Hao asked.

"Yea." Yoh said with a smile. "I wanted to say goodbye before we left."

"...You seem to be in a better mood than you were before. Before, you were so skittish, now you seem a lot calmer." Hao stated.

"I guess it's just because I've finally gotten used to it. I'm usually easygoing, but a lot of confusing things happened all at once and I wasn't sure what to think. Now I've made up my mind." Yoh replied.

"Oh? And what have you decided?" Hao asked curiously.

"I'm going to change your view of killing. I said it before, I don't like needless deaths and your killing goes against what I believe. So, I'm going to change you." Yoh replied.

"Change me? Well, your goal isn't an easy one, but it's not impossible. Your free to try all you like. Although, getting me to stop killing isn't that hard. All I need for that is a little _incentive_." Hao said with a smirk. He leaned in and whispered something in Yoh's ear, trying to stop himself from laughing at his brother's reaction.

Yoh's face turned a bright red with embarrassment before he turned to face him. "Don't say something like that at mom's grave!" Yoh snapped.

Hao smirked before leaning in a placing a quick kiss on his brother's lips. Then, he ran back to the house with Yoh chasing after him. It felt a little strange to him, to act like a child for once, but it wasn't too bad of a feeling. As he raced through the living room, his eyes caught sight of a small clock. His movement came to a sudden stop, causing Yoh to crash into his back, as a sudden thought came to mind. If they didn't leave now, they would be late.

"Yoh, is there anything else that you need here?" Hao asked quickly.

"No." Yoh replied.

"Good, then it's time to go. Follow me, or else we're going to be late."

XxX (back with the cops)

"This is all my fault" Lyserg sighed as he stared at the tattered remains of the net before him.

"...No, you are not the only one at fault. I should not have fallen for such an obvious trick either." Silva said.

"We only caught Hao this time because he had us play that stupid game. How are we going to catch him again?" Ren asked.

"I don't know. Lyserg, do you have any ideas on what he might do next? He was working as a policeman in your department for the last six months. Did you learn any of his habits during that time? Is there anything that seems like something he would do?" Silva asked.

"...I can't recall many habits that stood out that much. He always seemed bored and had one habit of taking too many unnecessary risks, but that's about it. There is one other thing I suppose. If he felt that something had become too predictable he'd try something else, but I suppose that's just normal." Lyserg said.

"That's it!" Silva exclaimed.

"What is?" Ren snapped.

"Hao thinks we're too predictable. To him, it's boring to play with us anymore. He most likely intends to leave and find a more interesting playmate. Quick, Lyserg. Show me where the nearest airport is. We might still be able to catch them." Silva said.

Lyserg nodded and quickly ran towards the direction of the nearest airport with the remaining police officers following behind him. The moment they entered the building, they all split up and headed towards different sections. Lyserg headed towards the security room, Silva headed towards the information center, and everyone else spread through the building while looking for the twins.

A plane flew overhead as Ren passed the runway while heading to the cargo area of the building. He doubted that he'd find either Yoh of Hao there, but the people working there might remember seeing them enter a plane or something. However, he was confused when he saw most of the employes crowded together in a single area, he had expected them to working around the room. The confusion changed to surprise when he saw a young African girl in the niddle of the crowd.

"Why are you back here?" Ren asked the girl after shooing away the employees.

"Opacho got lost. Opacho can't find her plane. Opacho doesn't want to get left behind." Opacho said sadly.

"Do you know which plane you're supposed to be on?" Ren asked with a sigh. He really didn't have time for this, but Lyserg and Horohoro would probably have a huge fit it they found out that he let some kid get left behind.

"Flight number 13." Opacho recited.

Ren raised an eyebrow at that. He didn't particularly keep track of flights, but he knew that flight 13 was a little special. "You're headed out of the country?"

"Yup. Daddy, me, and daddy's friends are all moving to a new place... But if Opacho gets left behind.. then... then..." Opacho said with teary eyes.

Ren quickly picked up Opacho and ran back into the building, he really didn't want her to start crying now, there was no time to waste. Flight 13 would fly to some random country and then remain in the country for a year before returning. It took a year to fuel the plane, so it was only able to fly out of it's home country once every two years. What's worse, the plane was going to leave in exactly five minutes. Just another few steps and he'd make it to the entrance.

"Wait!" Renn called as a flight attendant began to shut the doors.

"What is it?" The woman asked.

"This girl... She's supposed to be on that flight... Her father is waiting." Ren gasped.

"Oh." The lady said as she turned to look at Opacho "May I see your ticket?"

Opacho quickly handed her ticket over to the lady who, after inspecting it, smiled and carefully took Opacho out of Ren's hands.

"You are just in time sweetie. Hurry on in and go find your parents, the plane will be taking off shortly." The woman said as she gently pushed Opacho through the door.

After Opacho was safely inside, the woman shut the door and returned to her work. Ren watched from the large window as the plane took flight, waiting until it was off the ground and out of sight before returning to his search for the twins. It was unlikely that the twins would be in plain sight. Even though Hao was only a police officer for six months, he had proved in that time how skilled he could be. Hao wouldn't do something hat he knew would get him caught. As he passed by the front desk, he was stopped by Silva and the other officers.

"What's going on?" Ren asked.

"Lyserg just found the flight that they took. We're all headed over there now, it's supposed to leave any second." Silva said as he ran towards the gateways.

"Which flight?" Ren asked.

"Flight 13."

Ren froze in his tracks, silently staring at the ground in front of him. "Flight... 13?" He repeated.

"Yes. Is that really so strange? Come on, we need to hurry!" Silva snapped.

"You just missed it. It's already gone. It took off a few minutes ago." Ren said slowly.

"What? Do we ave any idea where it was headed? Maybe we could find another flight-" Horohoro began.

"Impossible." Lyserg cut in. "The flight's destination is known only to the pilot and passengers. The pilot randomly chooses a continent and city and flies there, only telling the passengers after they've left ground. Even the airport has no idea where they are going. I hate to say it... but for now, they've escaped."

XxX

The cover of a book was suddenly shoved into the face of Asakura Yoh, waking him from his short nap. It was a rather rude way to wake someone up, but still effective. With a sigh, he pried the book off and looked over at his brother, who had shoved the book into his face in the first place. Hao sat on the seat to his right, wearing a smile that said 'read it'. A look of confusion came over him when he realized that it was partially in another language.

"Unless you know more languages that Japanese and English, you're going to need that." Hao said with a smirk

"Why?" Yoh asked.

"For where we're going." Hao replied simply.

"Huh?"

"Oh, right. You were asleep when the pilot announced it." Hao said thoughtfully. "You're going to need to start studying Russian, we're headed to Moscow."

XxX

Yoh: Yay. Author's note. Can I take a nap now?

Me: *sweat drops* That's why you like author's notes?

Yoh: Yup.

Me:...

Manta: *pops out from behind a tree* Please Review.


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